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Robert Joiner – 2017

Robert Joiner wore many professional hats during his long career in St. Louis print media. He moved to the Post-Dispatch after working as an editor for the St. Louis American. Donald Suggs, publisher of the American, credited Joiner with being one of the men who helped establish the foundation of the paper. During his 40+ years with Pulitzer, he was a beat reporter, Washington Bureau reporter, columnist and editorial writer. He was one of the founders of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and is a member of the group’s Hall of Fame. After retirement he joined the staff of KWMU and the Beacon on-line operation where he specialized in medical reporting.

Cleora Hughes – 2017

Cleora Hughes, one of the founding members of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists, joined the Post-Dispatch in 1964 as a statistical clerk, having studied business at Harris Teachers’ College. She later transferred to the paper’s reference library, but she had her sights set on a writing career with the paper. She went back to school at Saint Louis University and got her degree in mass communications. Subsequent work at the paper was in the features department with a smattering of suburban news assignments. In 1995 she shifted her focus to food writing, and her byline became a weekly fixture in the paper’s food section. She was a member of the team that received the James Beard Award for excellence in food journalism in 2003.

Jim Forbes – 2017

J. B. Forbes joined the Post-Dispatch photo department since 1975, holding the positions of staff photographer, photo editor and Chief Photographer. Five years after he was hired, Forbes began covering international assignments, a position that has taken him to 30 nations to cover wars, natural disasters and political upheavals. His work garnered over 100 awards including four regional National Press Photographers citations, election to the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame and a shared Pulitzer Prize with the rest of the paper’s staff for their coverage of Ferguson.

Dave Dorr – 2017

Dave Dorr became a familiar face at the Olympics, covering them nine times during his career with the Post-Dispatch. He joined the paper in 1966 and stayed for 35 years, writing about sports, international politics and filling the Everyday Magazine with features. It was sports where he excelled. Dorr covered the Masters and U.S. Open, and he was also a college basketball correspondent for Sports Illustrated and a columnist for The Sporting News. His work was nominated for a Pulitzer three times, he was voted Missouri Sportswriter of the year three consecutive years

Clarissa Start – 2016

There were few women working in the newsroom of the Post-Dispatch when Clarissa Start started her career there in 1938. That career gave her the opportunity to interview celebrities for the paper’s feature-laden Everyday Magazine section. She began writing her column, “The Little Woman,” in 1955, sharing with her large female audience her own perspective on family life. When she retired from the paper in 1972, that column ended, but her Post-Dispatch writing career continued with “The Happy Gardener” until she was 85, for a total of 64 years in the paper. During her long career she also found time to write ten books.

Rick Hummell – 2016

Rick Hummel, affectionately nicknamed The Commish by his fellow writers, was the go-to man for baseball news on the Post-Dispatch staff. He joined the paper in 1971, having graduated from the Mizzou Journalism School in 1968. In his early years there, he covered all sports, becoming the Cardinals’ beat writer in 1978. Rick worked every All-Star Game beginning in 1980 and every World Series since 1977. In 2002 He was promoted to the position of baseball columnist. Rick is in the Writers’ Wing on the National Baseball Hall of Fame and is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.