DANA CANEDY

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, publisher

Dana Canedy, grew up in Radcliffe, Kentucky, where she gained an early passion for reading and writing. Graduating from the University of Kentucky’s School of Journalism and Media, she first found work as a reporter with Cleveland’s Plain Dealer and Southern Florida’s Palm Beach Post. In 1996, she joined The New York Times, starting as a reporter before moving onto a Bureau Chief position in Florida during the hotly contested 2000 presidential election. During that time, she managed to win a Pulitzer Prize for contributing to and editing the Times’ series “How Race Is Lived in America.” 

While her career was launching to new heights, she also started a family with First Sergeant Charles King. Tragically, he was killed in Iraq after his vehicle drove over an IED, only seven months after their child was born. To channel her grief, she wrote the memoir A Journal for Jordan, which combined elements of a journal King wrote for his young son and Canedy’s own reflections. The memoir is currently being adapted by director Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan.

Canedy left her position as senior editor at The New York Times in 2018 to take the coveted position as the Pulitzer Prize administrator, and was the first woman and person of color to assume the role. After two years at the Pulitzers, she was named the first woman of color to hold the position of Senior Vice President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster.

Check out our blog Dana Canedy’s Rise from Journalistic Acclaim to the Apex of Publishing to learn more.