Gene Weingarten 1099640 223123374 2008-07-02T17:56:25Z 170.99.18.90 '''Gene <!-- Note that his name is Gene, not Eugene --> Weingarten''' (born on [[October 2]] [[1951]] in [[New York City|New York]]) is a [[humorist|humor writer]] and [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[journalist]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/weingarten/weingarten082002.htm |title= Funny? You Should Ask |first= Gene |last= Weingarten |work= [[The Washington Post]] |date= [[August 20]], [[2002]] |accessdate= 2008-04-06}}</ref> His column, ''Below the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Beltway]]'', is published weekly in the [[Washington Post]] Magazine and syndicated nationally by The Washington Post Writers Group. Weingarten attended the [[Bronx High School of Science]] and [[New York University]]; he was a fellow at the [[Nieman Foundation for Journalism]] at [[Harvard University]] in [[1987]]-[[1988]]. On [[April 7]], [[2008]], he was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing]], for his story "Pearls Before Breakfast"<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html "Pearls Before Breakfast" in the Washington Post]</ref> which appeared in the ''Washington Post''. ==Biography== "I majored in psychology, but only because it was the easiest major," is Weingarten's description of his undergraduate college career at [[New York University]]. "I spent all my time as editor of the daily newspaper, and then dropped out with three credits to go, nearly killing my mother."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/03/r_style_weingarten052003.htm |title= Funny? You Should Ask |first= Gene |last= Weingarten |work= [[The Washington Post]] |date= [[May 20]], [[2003]] |accessdate= 2008-04-06}}</ref> He dropped out to spend months with a Puerto Rican street gang in New York; this resulted in a cover story for ''[[New York Magazine]]'', which launched his career. Weingarten is a fan of the [[Washington Nationals]] and [[New York Yankees]] [[baseball]] teams. He is also an amateur expert on mechanical [[clocks]]. His last name, roughly translated from German to English, means: Wine Garden. He used to live in [[Bethesda]], [[Maryland]]. Since 2001 he has lived in the [[Capitol Hill, Washington, DC|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood of Washington, D.C. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/01/25/DI2006012500622.html?nav=left Chatological Humor] from [[Washington Post|WashingtonPost.com]]</ref> He has two children, Molly (1981) and Dan (1984).<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/07/26/DI2005072601470.html Molly and Dan take over Gene's online chat</ref> He has been married for 26 years to a prosecutor at the [[U.S. Department of Justice]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47809-2001Feb9_2.html] If You Go Chasing Rabbits . . . </ref> ==Career== Weingarten served as the editor of the ''[[Miami Herald]]'''s Sunday magazine, ''Tropic'', from [[1985]] to [[1990]]. Perhaps his best-known professional accomplishment is hiring [[Dave Barry]], thus giving one of America's best known humor columnists his big break. Tropic won two [[Pulitzer Prizes]], including Barry's, during Weingarten's tenure. <ref>[http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/jour/fljhist/full/pulitzers.pdf Pulitzer Prize Winner - Florida Newspapers] from [[University of Florida]] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]])</ref> Weingarten is believed to have created and edited the [[Style Invitational]] humor contest for the ''Washington Post''. He often denied his connection to the Invitational, using the pseudonym "The Czar." However, Weingarten admitted responsibility in 1999, writing, "I run a reader-participation contest every Sunday in The Post. It is called The Style Invitational."<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111500459_pf.html Memo: A Home Team Name Game<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He claimed credit again in 2001, writing, "[T]he Style Invitational, which I edit."<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/11/AR2007091100695_pf.html Not Funny: The Rules of Humor Changed on Sept. 11 - washingtonpost.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He hosts, as of 2008, one of the most popular Washington Post online chats, called "Chatological Humor, aka Tuesdays with Moron"{{Fact|date=March 2008}}. Common topics in his online chat include the art of [[comic strips]], analysis of humor, politics, philosophy, medicine, gender differences, and human excretory functions. Many of his columns addressing gender differences have been written in a he-said she-said style in collaboration with humorist [[Gina Barreca]], his co-author for ''I'm with Stupid.'' Weingarten writes that humor quality is objective, not subjective, and claims to be the final arbiter on the subject. A [[hypochondriac]] until a near-fatal infection with [[Hepatitis C]], he is familiar with a wide range of medical conditions as a result of writing ''The Hypochondriac's Guide To Life. And Death.'' In 2008 Weingarten won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his story "Pearls Before Breakfast"<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html "Pearls Before Breakfast" in the Washington Post]</ref> in which he convinced renowned violinist [[Joshua Bell]] to perform in a [[Metrorail (Washington, D.C.)|Washington Metro]] station during the morning commute; Bell was almost unrecognized and few people stopped to listen to a performance from a world-class violinist. ==Bibliography== *''I'm With Stupid'' ([[2004 in literature|2004]]), ISBN 0-7432-4420-6, co-written with [[Gina Barreca]] *''The Hypochondriac's Guide To Life. And Death'' ([[1998 in literature|1998]]), ISBN 0-684-85648-4 ==See also== *[[Dave Barry]] *[[Joel Achenbach]] *[[Gina Barreca]] *[[Googlewhack]] == References == <references/> ==External links== *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011801434.html The Peekaboo Paradox] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/01/19/DI2006011902464.html Follow-up chat about the Peekaboo Paradox] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601144.html Snowbound] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/25/LI2005032501927.html Below The Beltway] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401870.html Chatological Humor] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/05/AR2005120501314.html Just the FAQs: A Guide to the Ever-Expanding Universe Known as Chatological Humor] *[http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/newspapers/post_is_suffering_a_failure_of_imagination_27889.asp Gene's Critique of the Washington Post] *[http://www.yurasko.net/wfy/2007/01/qa-gene-weingarten.html Q&A: Gene Weingarten] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301290.html Zero-Based Journalism - You can find just about anything on Google. Except this.] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080101708.html?nav=hcmodule Nope, Yup, Nope, Yup] {{DEFAULTSORT:Weingarten, Gene}} [[Category:American journalists]] [[Category:American humorists]] [[Category:1951 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Washington Post people]] [[Category:Americans of German descent]] [[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing winners]]