Ted Gup

Born: 1950

Ohio connection: Birth

Canton

Ted Gup, a Canton, Ohio native, has been an investigative journalist and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work for the Washington Post and Time magazine. He taught journalism at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio prior to becoming Chair of the Journalism Department at Emerson College in Boston, MA.

A Secret Gift: How One Man’s Kindness – And a Trove of Letter – Revealed the Hidden Story of the Great Depression, tells the story of his grandfather and the people of his hometown, Canton, OH, during the Great Depression of the 1930s. This book inspired three Stark County men to act and last December they pledged to give $100 gifts to 150 families and individuals who have been hit especially hard by current economic times. They are patterning their generosity after the Canton businessman, who was known for decades only as B. Virdot. As was the case with the man who inspired them, the trio of benefactors wishes to remain anonymous.

Awards:
George Polk Award, Gerald Loeb Award for Financial Journalism, Worth Bingham Prize, Front Page Award Grand Prize and First Prize from Newspaper Guild, and Pulitzer Prize finalist, all 1981, all for journalism work; journalism award, Washington Monthly, 1982, 1983, 1993; honorable mention, Gerald Loeb Award for Financial Journalism, 1984; Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award, 1992; National Conservation Achievement Award from National Wildlife Federation, Sunday Magazine Editors Association Award, Linda Moody Community Service Award, 1993; grant, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 1997-98; nominated for Pulitzer Prize, for The Book of Honor; Book of the Year Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors, for The Book of Honor; Goldsmith Book Prize, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, for Nation of Secrets. 2011 Ohioana Nonfiction Book Award for How One Man’s Kindness – and a Trove of Letters – Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression.