During the weekend, the Writers for Democratic Action (WDA) bestowed its first Gitlin-Auster Defender of Democracy Award upon historian Heather Cox Richardson, an honor crafted to recognize a writer whose voice powerfully embodies the wisdom, courage, and steadfastness that defined the lives of Todd Gitlin and Paul Auster, WDA Founding Members. Here are further remarks from the WDA:
For seven years running, Professor Richardson has produced her nightly Letters From An American, a sharp historian’s reading of current events through the lens of the nation’s past. Fully sourced and consistently crediting other writers, her work gives new meaning to the old adage that “Journalism is the rough draft of history.” Yet, in her case, there’s no roughness: style and wit are hallmarks of the HCR Letters.
The Gitlin-Auster Defender of Democracy Award emphasizes the writer’s public responsibility in a time of unprecedented crisis, and lauds the power of words to record history and to change it. In a dangerous era, Heather Cox Richardson has upheld those values magnificently. It is WDA’s privilege to recognize her in this way.
The presentation was live-streamed on Zoom on Saturday, September 19, with viewers tuning in from watch parties all over the country, and was followed by a conversation between Richardson and Siri Hustvedt, also a WDA founding member.
