Richard Ben Cramer, a noted biographer who is perhaps most famous in the sports world for his 1986 Esquire profile of Ted Williams and 2000 biography of Joe DiMaggio, passed away on Monday.
Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Cramer graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1971, writing for the student newspaper during his time there. After failing to land a desired job with The Baltimore Sun, Cramer attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, receiving his master’s degree in 1972.
He won the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for his work in the Middle East in 1979, and perhaps Cramer’s best-known work was his book What it Takes: The Way to the White House. Upon his death, Cramer was said to be working on a biography of Alex Rodriguez.
Cramer’s profile of Williams in Esquire can be found by clicking here, and his biography of DiMaggio can be purchased here.
