Meg Greenfield

Mary Ellen Greenfield (December 27, 1930 – May 13, 1999), known as Meg Greenfield, was an American editorial writer who worked for The Washington Post and Newsweek. She was also a Washington, D.C., insider, known for her wit. Greenfield won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.

Meg Greenfield
Born	Mary Ellen Greenfield (1930-12-27)December 27, 1930 Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Died	May 13, 1999(1999-05-13) (aged 68) Georgetown, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma mater	The Bush School Smith College University of Cambridge
Occupation	Editorial writer
Employers	The Washington Post Newsweek

A book she authored was published posthumously.^[1][2]

Life and career

Greenfield was born in Seattle, the daughter of Lorraine (Nathan) and Lewis James Greenfield.^[3] Her family was Jewish. She attended The Bush School and graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1952. She also studied at Cambridge University as a Fulbright Scholar and was friends there with Norman Podhoretz, who also went on to a career in journalism.

She became influential in a male-dominated world and a close confidante of Post publisher Katharine Graham. She spent 20 years as the editorial page editor for The Washington Post and 25 years as a columnist for Newsweek. She influenced generations of Washington Post writers.^[4]

When diagnosed with cancer, Greenfield partly retired to Bainbridge Island in her native Washington, where she wrote a posthumously published memoir entitled Washington. She died of the disease, at age 68.^[5][6]

Greenfield was portrayed by Carrie Coon in 2017 film, The Post.

Awards and honors

• Greenfield won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.^[7]

Bibliography

• Greenfield, Meg (2001). Washington. Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1586480271.