Dan Barry began the “This Land” column for The New York Times in January 2007. In traveling to all 50 states, he has met the coroner from “The Wizard of Oz,” learned the bump-and-grind from a mostly retired burlesque queen, and been hit in the chest by an Asian carp leaping out of the Illinois River. He has since recovered, though the condition of the carp remains unknown.
Since joining the newspaper in September 1995, Mr. Barry has had several other assignments, including one as the “About New York” columnist, and has written extensively about many topics, including the World Trade Center disaster and its aftermath and the damage to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
He previously worked for the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn., and for The Providence Journal, where he shared a George Polk Award and a Pulitzer Prize. While at the Times, he has been nominated as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize twice. His many other honors include a fifth-place award for feature writing from the American Bowling Congress; the certificate misspelled his name.
Mr. Barry has written three books: “Pull Me Up: A Memoir”; “City Lights,” a collection of his “About New York” columns; and “Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game,” which received the 2012 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.
He was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, and grew up in Deer Park, on Long Island, where he worked as a ditch digger and itinerant delicatessen clerk before getting a job in journalism. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and New York University, and lives with his family in Maplewood, N.J.
Dan Barry’s final "About New York" column ran Nov. 15, 2006.
For Patsy Cline’s Hometown, an Embrace That Took Decades
A modest tin-roof house stands as a monument to a dropout turned country singer who gained more recognition from Winchester, Va., after her death at 30 than during her life.
December 24, 2012usNewsARTICLES
Steps to Disarm (Get Gift Card) at Ohio Church
At a church in Cincinnati, dozens of people traded in their guns for $100 gift cards in a program to reduce violence, although the effectiveness of buybacks has been questioned.
January 19, 2013, SaturdayGun Enthusiast With Popular Online Videos Is Shot to Death in Georgia
Keith Ratliff, who helped make online videos of high-powered weapons and explosives, was found surrounded by guns, but not the one that killed him.
January 11, 2013, FridayFor Patsy Cline’s Hometown, an Embrace That Took Decades
A modest tin-roof house stands as a monument to a dropout turned country singer who gained more recognition from Winchester, Va., after her death at 30 than during her life.
December 24, 2012, MondayWith the Why Elusive, Two Boys, Two Burials
The people of Newtown buried two boys on Monday afternoon, in the first of the many funerals to follow last week’s massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The boys were both 6 years old.
December 18, 2012, TuesdayDivining the Weather, With Methods Old and New
Bill O’Toole works as the seventh prognosticator of J. Gruber’s Hagerstown Town and Country Almanack, a line of work that began in 1797 with a star-savvy blacksmith.
December 10, 2012, MondayStorm-Tossed Memories
Hurricane Sandy transformed cherished snapshots into an open-air exhibition of people’s lives.
November 18, 2012, SundayBack When a Chocolate Puck Tasted, Guiltily, Like America
Consumers already knew that not everything is good for you, and this was never truer than with a Twinkie, a Sno Ball, or a Ring Ding — the Ding Dong equivalent in the Northeast.
November 17, 2012, SaturdayIn a Small Ohio City, an Almost Sacred Day of Civic Purpose
The jaded might contend that in a presidential election, one vote among tens of millions has no meaning. In Elyria, Ohio, voting is simply what you do.
November 7, 2012, WednesdayHoops Springs Eternal
It's basketball season again. The hoop beckons. Do you hearken to its call?
November 5, 2012Evoking 18th-Century Drama, a Tragedy on the Bounty
A vessel of timber and lore was hammered by the hurricane, and the captain has not been found.
November 4, 2012, SundaySEARCH 1116 ARTICLES:
This series examines the expectations, disappointments and challenges that shape the lives of Donna Dove, her customers and the city they know intimately, Elyria, Ohio.
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Struggling for Warmth
In a Maine winter, the need for heating oil is vital, and some families have been unable to sufficiently heat their homes.
American Objects
Objects from the travels of Dan Barry, the “This Land” columnist for The Times.
An Unexpected Debut
Boyd Lee Dunlop found his musical talent during the Great Depression. But after years of playing in bars and nightclubs, it took a damaged piano in a Buffalo nursing home for him to be discovered.
The Butcher and the Frazier-Stander Bout
Ron Stander’s hard knocks didn’t end after his four-round fight against Smokin’ Joe Frazier in 1972.
A Coal Town Vanishes
A small town in West Virginia has essentially disappeared in the wake of the state’s largest surface-mining operation.
A Statehouse Full of Protesters
Democracy is particularly messy for the workers responsible for cleaning the Wisconsin statehouse each day.
Nebraska Town Refuses to Be Bypassed
When a highway bypass was built around Hooper, Neb., concerned townsfolk sought a way to let people know that, yes, Hooper was still here.
Bohemian Grove Enclave
The infamous Bohemian Grove enclave in the redwood forests north of San Francisco.
The Oyster Economy
As oily waters threaten Louisiana's oyster industry, the economic impact is stretching further onto higher ground.
Oysters Touch Many From Gulf to Table
The oyster boat captains are just the beginning of a long chain that feels the impact of an oil-contaminated catch.
Florida Town Strives to Be Counted
A Florida woman rallies her home town to be accurately represented in the 2010 census.
Remembering Eleanor
During the Depression, 150 struggling families were selected to build a homestead in West Virginia. Today, the remaining original homesteaders try to keep the memory of the town’s roots alive.
A Deck of Lives
After the murder of his son, Tom Lucas created a special deck of playing cards, now used in South Carolina prisons. He hopes they will bring clues to cold cases.
Cutting the Deck and Hoping for Clues
In South Carolina prisons, more than 10,000 packs of playing cards have been sold that depict the victims of unsolved crimes, in hopes that information will surface.
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