William J. Dorvillier

Last updated

William Joseph Dorvillier (April 24, 1908 - May 5, 1993) was the 1961 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.

Biography

Dorvillier was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, in 1908. Dorvillier was the founder, publisher and editor of The San Juan Star. With its first issue in November 1959 it was an English language paper published in Puerto Rico. [1]

Dorvillier wrote a series of twenty editorials criticizing the Catholic Church's interference in the 1960 general elections in Puerto Rico, where 90% of the population was Roman Catholic. [2] Dorvillier's editorials produced a response from Puerto Rico's Roman Catholic Diocesan Bishop James Edward McManus, which The San Juan Star published in its entirety. [3]

Dorvillier had been in the newspaper industry for 26 years when he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. [4] Until it ceased operations in the summer of 2008, the Star was the only Pulitzer Prize-winning publication in Puerto Rico and while every one of its Spanish-language competitors in 1961 were long gone, it continued publishing for 47 years.

Dorvillier died on May 5, 1993, in Concord, New Hampshire.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Boston Globe</i> American daily newspaper

The Boston Globe, also known locally as the Globe, is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. The Boston Globe is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in Boston and tenth-largest newspaper by print circulation in the nation as of 2023.

<i>El Nuevo Día</i> Puerto Rican daily newspaper

El Nuevo Día is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico. It is considered mainstream and the territory's newspaper of record. It was founded in 1909 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and today it is a subsidiary of GFR Media. Its headquarters are in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

<i>El Vocero</i> Puerto Rican newspaper

El Vocero de Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, El Vocero was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing El Mundo and El Nuevo Día and leading El Reportero and The San Juan Star in sales. With the temporary demise in the late 1980s of El Mundo, El Vocero became even more popular, becoming the island's largest newspaper by 1994. From 1985 to 2013 it was owned by Caribbean International News Corp. The owners of Caribbean International News Corp, and therefore owners of El Vocero, were Elliot Stein, I. Martin Pompadur and The Henry Crown Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing</span> American journalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction. Thus it is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year. The program has also recognized opinion journalism with its Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning from 1922.

William Joseph Kennedy is an American writer and journalist who won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for his 1983 novel Ironweed.

The Pulitzer Prizes for 1961 are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican literature</span> From oral story telling to its present-day

Puerto Rican literature is the body of literature produced by writers of Puerto Rican descent. It evolved from the art of oral storytelling. Written works by the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were originally prohibited and repressed by the Spanish colonial government.

<i>The Virginian-Pilot</i> Newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.

The Virginian-Pilot is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Commonly known as The Pilot, it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina. It was a locally owned, family enterprise from its founding in 1865 at the close of the American Civil War until its sale to Tribune Publishing in 2018. Its headquarters is in Newport News, and prior to 2020 was in Norfolk.

<i>The San Juan Daily Star</i> Puerto Rican newspaper

The San Juan Daily Star, originally The San Juan Star, is the only English and Spanish newspaper in Puerto Rico. The Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper was published by Star Media Network, a subdivision of San Juan Star, Inc.

<i>Claridad</i> Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Claridad ("Clarity") is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was founded in June 1959. The paper served as the official publication of the Puerto Rican independence movement and later the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP). The paper has been praised for its strong political and investigative reporting. It continues to be published weekly despite the fact that the PSP was disbanded in 1993. Many former PSP members continue to contribute to the paper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico</span> Church in Puerto Rico

The Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de San Juan Bautista, or in English, Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist, is the Catholic cathedral for the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. It is one of the oldest buildings in Old San Juan, the oldest cathedral in the United States, the second-oldest existing cathedral in the Americas, and the third cathedral constructed in the Americas.

<i>El Imparcial</i> Puerto Rican newspaper

El Imparcial, founded in 1918, was "an anti-Popular, pro-Independence tabloid" in Puerto Rico. It circulated daily, except Sundays. Its full name was El Imparcial: El diario ilustrado de Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Puerto Rico</span> Ethnic group

The history of the Jews in Puerto Rico dates back to the 1400s. Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico began in the 15th century with the arrival of the anusim who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. An open Jewish community did not flourish in the colony because Judaism was prohibited by the Spanish Inquisition. However, many migrated to mountainous parts of the island, far from the central power of San Juan, and continued to self-identify as Jews and practice Crypto-Judaism.

Edwin Vincent Byrne was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served in Puerto Rico, as Bishop of Ponce (1925–1929) and Bishop of San Juan (1929–1943), before returning to the United States as Archbishop of Santa Fe (1943–1963).

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun was a short-lived daily English-language newspaper that was published between October 2008 and 2011 in Puerto Rico. At the time, it was the only English-language daily on the island. The paper was based in San Juan and had a daily circulation of 35,000. It was published seven days a week by Cooperativa Prensa Unida. It succeeded the San Juan Star, which ended publication on August 29, 2008 after an almost 49-year run. Reporters had gone several weeks without being paid. Cooperativa Prensa Unida's incorporation was cancelled in May 2012.

<i>El Ponceño</i> Puerto Rican newspaper

El Ponceño, founded in 1852, was the first newspaper published in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The paper was originally named "El Observador Ponceño" but it was shortened to "El Ponceño".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduardo Lalo</span> Puerto Rican novelist (born 1960)

Eduardo Lalo is a Puerto Rican novelist, best known for his novel Simone, who won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos T. Mock</span> American novelist

Carlos T. Mock is a Puerto Rican physician, gay activist, journalist, and writer who has published both works in the medical profession, works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzi Ferrer</span> American contemporary feminist visual artist

Suzi Ferrer (born Susan Nudelman, also known as Sasha Ferrer, was a visual artist based in San Juan, Puerto Rico from the mid-1960s to 1975. She is known for her transgressive, irreverent, avant-garde, art brut and feminist work.

References

  1. "The Press: Birth of the S/or". Time . 1959-09-21. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  2. Lefebvre, Andy. "Puerto Rico." World Press Encyclopedia, edited by Amanda C. Quick, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2003, pp. 756-757 . Retrieved 2021-04-14.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. "The Press: The Right Word". Time . 1961-05-12. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  4. "Amarillo Paper winner of top Pulitzer Honor". Miami News - Record. 1961-05-02. Retrieved 2021-04-14 via newspaper.com.