Neal Peirce

{{Short description|American columnist and journalist (1932–2019)}} {{Infobox person | name = Neal Peirce | birth_name = Neal Rippey Peirce | birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|01|05}} | birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|12|27|1932|01|05}} | death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. | resting place = | education = [[Westtown School]]<br/>[[South Kent School]]<br/>[[Princeton University]]<br/>[[Harvard University]] | occupation = Columnist | spouse = Barbara Sabina Mathilda von dem Bach-Zelewski | children = 1 son, 2 daughters | parents = | relatives = }} '''Neal Rippey Peirce''' (January 5, 1932 – December 27, 2019) was an American journalist and columnist, and the author of several books about American politics.<ref name="nytimesobit">{{cite news |last1=Schneider |first1=Keith |title=Neal R. Peirce, Who Put Spotlight on Urban Innovation, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/us/neal-peirce-dead.html |accessdate=December 28, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=December 27, 2019}}</ref> He was the political editor of the ''[[Congressional Quarterly]]'' from 1960 to 1969, and a co-founder and contributing editor of the ''[[National Journal]]'' from 1969 to 1997.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>

Mr. Peirce wrote a weekly column for ''[[The Washington Post Writers Group]]'' from 1978 to 2013.<ref name="washpostobit">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Harrison |title=Neal Peirce, urban affairs columnist who championed inclusive cities, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/neal-peirce-urban-affairs-columnist-who-championed-inclusive-cities-dies-at-87/2019/12/27/a4c28722-0bb1-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html |accessdate=December 28, 2019 |work=The Washington Post |date=December 28, 2019}}</ref> It was the first nationally syndicated column dedicated to covering cities and metro areas.

From 1986 to 2011, he worked with colleague Curtis Johnson to produce comprehensive "Peirce Reports" on conditions and potential improvements in 26 metro areas. Much of this work was reinforced by efforts of the ''Citistates Group'', a network of American journalists he established in 1995 to similarly focus on reporting on towns and cities.

In 2014, Mr. Peirce launched Citiscope, a news service reporting on cities around the globe that eventually became part of the Thomson Reuters project, Place.

Neal Peirce died in [[Washington, D.C.]], from [[glioblastoma]]<ref name="nytimesobit" /> on December 27, 2019.

Nine months later, the Neal Peirce Foundation was established to honor Mr. Peirce's legacy. In recognition of the many years he spent on the road covering America's urban beat, the foundation's primary focus will be to award travel grants for journalists to get to cities and metro areas as he did–and report on solutions percolating there.

Mr. Peirce's large body of work is archived at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.

==Selected works== *{{cite book |last1=Peirce |first1=Neal R. |title=Electoral college. The People's President: The Electoral College in American History and the Direct‐Vote Alternative |date=1968 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York}} *{{cite book |last1=Peirce |first1=Neal R. |title=Megastates of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Ten Great States |date=1972 |publisher=W.W. Norton Company |location=New York |isbn=9780393054583 |oclc=472885901 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/megastatesofamer00peir }} *{{cite book |last1=Peirce |first1=Neal R. |last2=Hagstrom |first2=Jerry |title=The Book of America: Inside Fifty States Today |date=1983 |publisher=W.W. Norton Company |location=New York |isbn=9780393016390|oclc=317181631}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.nealpeircefoundation.org The Neal Peirce Foundation] *{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626040416/http://citistates.com/ |date=June 26, 2017 |title=The Citystates Group}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Neal}} [[Category:1932 births]] [[Category:2019 deaths]] [[Category:Journalists from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Princeton University alumni]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:American columnists]] [[Category:American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Washington, D.C.]]