1979 Pulitzer Prize

Journalism awards

• Public Service:
• *The Point Reyes Light, a California weekly. For its investigation of Synanon,.
• Local General or Spot News Reporting:
• *The San Diego Evening Tribune, for its coverage of the collision of a Pacific Southwest air liner with a small plane over its city.
• Local Investigative Specialized Reporting:
• * Gilbert M. Gaul and Elliot G. Jaspin of the Pottsville Republican, for stories on the destruction of the Blue Coal Company by men with ties to organized crime.
• National Reporting:
• * James Risser of the Des Moines Register, for a series on farming damage to the environment.
• International Reporting:
• * Richard Ben Cramer of The Philadelphia Inquirer, for reports from the Middle East.
• Feature Writing:
• * Jon D. Franklin, science writer of The Baltimore Evening Sun, for an account of brain surgery.
• Commentary:
• * Russell Baker of The New York Times.
• Criticism:
• * Paul Gapp, architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune.
• Editorial Writing:
• * Edwin M. Yoder Jr. of the Washington Star.
• Editorial Cartooning:
• * Herbert Lawrence Block of The Washington Post, for the body of his work.
• Spot News Photography:
• * Thomas J. Kelly III of the Pottstown Mercury, for a series called Tragedy on Sanatoga Road.
• Feature Photography:
• * Staff Photographers of the Boston Herald American, for photographic coverage of the blizzard of 1978.

Letters, Drama and Music Awards

• Fiction:
• * The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
• Drama:
• * Buried Child by Sam Shepard
• History:
• * The Dred Scott Case by Don E. Fehrenbacher
• Biography or Autobiography:
• * Days of Sorrow and Pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews by Leonard Baker
• Poetry:
• * Now and Then by Robert Penn Warren
• General Nonfiction:
• * On Human Nature by Edward O. Wilson
• Music:
• * Aftertones of Infinity by Joseph Schwantner