Rick Bragg
A Pulitzer-winning storyteller who chronicles the grit, grace, and complex soul of the American South with the lyrical precision of a poet.
Born 1959 (age 67)·American journalist and writer·Birthday: July 26·Baby Boomers
Biography
Rick Bragg writes from the bone-deep understanding of a place and its people, having sprung from the hardscrabble soil of northeastern Alabama. His journalism, first for regional papers and then for The New York Times, carried the weight and music of front-porch storytelling to national audiences, earning him a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996. Bragg’s true mastery, however, unfolds in his memoirs and non-fiction books, most notably his trilogy about his family: 'All Over but the Shoutin',' 'Ava's Man,' and 'The Prince of Frogtown.' These works are not mere recollections but deeply felt excavations of poverty, dignity, violence, and love, rendered in prose that is both muscular and tender. He writes about the South not as a curator of folklore, but as a native son who knows its shadows and its light.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Rick was born in 1959, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Rick Was Born
The biggest hits of 1959
#1 Movie
Ben-Hur
Best Picture
Ben-Hur
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Rick's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1959Born
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1964Started school
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1972Became a teenager
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1975Could drive
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1977Could vote
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1980Turned 21
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1989Turned 30
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 40
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 50
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 60
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 67 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his evocatively written New York Times stories on contemporary America.
- Authored the bestselling memoir 'All Over but the Shoutin',' a poignant account of his mother's struggles and his upbringing in Alabama.
- Served as a professor of writing at the University of Alabama, influencing a new generation of narrative journalists.
- Won the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year in 2010.
Did You Know?
He worked as a reporter for several newspapers, including the *St. Petersburg Times* and the *Los Angeles Times*, before joining The New York Times.
Braghas a distinctive, long beard that has become a part of his public persona.
He is a frequent contributor to Southern Living and Garden & Gun magazines.
““I come from a place where people are inclined to want to believe a story, to get lost in it, to tell it better than it was.””
