1978 Pulitzer Prize

Journalism awards

• Public Service:
• *The Philadelphia Inquirer, for a series of articles showing abuses of power by the police in its home city.
• Local General or Spot News Reporting:
• * Richard Whitt of the Louisville Courier-Journal, for his coverage of a fire that took 164 lives at the Beverly Hills Supper Club at Southgate, Kentucky, and subsequent investigation of the lack of enforcement of state fire codes.
• Local Investigative Specialized Reporting:
• * Anthony R. Dolan of the Stamford Advocate, for a series on municipal corruption.
• National Reporting:
• * Gaylord D. Shaw of the Los Angeles Times, for a series on unsafe structural conditions at the nation's major dams.
• International Reporting:
• * Henry Kamm of The New York Times, for his stories on the refugees, boat people, from Indochina.
• Commentary:
• * William Safire of The New York Times, for commentary on the Bert Lance affair.
• Criticism:
• * Walter Kerr of The New York Times, for articles on the theater in 1977 and throughout his long career.
• Editorial Writing:
• * Meg Greenfield, deputy editorial page editor of The Washington Post, for selected samples of her work.
• Editorial Cartooning:
• * Jeffrey K. MacNelly of the Richmond News Leader.
• Spot News Photography:
• * John H. Blair, special assignment photographer for United Press International, for a photograph of an Indianapolis broker being held hostage at gunpoint by Anthony Kiritsis.
• Feature Photography:
• *J. Ross Baughman of Associated Press, for three photographs from guerrilla areas in Rhodesia.

  Letters, Drama and Music Awards

• Fiction:
• * Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
• Drama:
• * The Gin Game by Donald L. Coburn
• History:
• * The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr.
• Biography or Autobiography:
• * Samuel Johnson by Walter Jackson Bate
• Poetry:
• * Collected Poems by Howard Nemerov
• General Non-Fiction:
• * The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
• Music:
• * Deja Vu for Percussion Quartet and Orchestra by Michael Colgrass

Special Citations and Awards

• Journalism:
• *Richard Strout, for distinguished commentary from Washington over many years as staff correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and contributor to The New Republic.
• Letters:
• *E. B. White, a special citation to E. B. White for his letters, essays and the full body his work.