Walter Shapiro

Walter Elliot Shapiro (February 16, 1947 – July 21, 2024) was an American journalist, columnist, writer, and author. He was the Press Secretary for the U.S. Secretary of Labor and a speech writer for President Jimmy Carter.

Early life and education Walter Elliot Shapiro was born in Manhattan, New York City, in 1947, raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, and graduated from Brien McMahon High School in 1965. One of his great-grandfathers was a Jewish immigrant from Prussia.

Career Shapiro began his journalism career as Washington reporter for Congressional Quarterly (1969 to 1970). Shapiro also wrote for The American Prospect and had been a columnist for Yahoo News and Roll Call. Shapiro won the Society of Professional Journalists' 2010 Sigma Delta Chi Award in the category of Online Column Writing (Independent) for his piece "The Societal Costs of Our Shrill, Hyperactive and Partisan Media Culture," published in Politics Daily.

Shapiro was press secretary to U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall from 1977 to 1978. He covered nine United States presidential elections. His columns have included satire as well.

Personal life and death Shapiro was married to magazine writer Meryl Gordon and split his time between New York City and Washington, D.C.