Dan Rodricks

Dan Rodricks has been an award-winning columnist for the Baltimore Sun since 1979, and speaks of his adopted hometown as both its champion and its scold. He has observed local, state and national political trends for three decades.

His "Dear Drug Dealers" series in The Sun, a public call for an end to criminal violence in Baltimore bolstered by his one-man campaign to provide jobs or job training for ex-offenders, won the 2006 Excellence in Urban Journalism Award from the Freedom Forum and the Enterprise Foundation. His series, which exposed the obstacles that paroled felons face in finding jobs, was cited on national television and radio, and the Columbia Journalism Review. It won the 2005 Public Service award from the Chesapeake Associated Press. In 2006, he was named Public Citizen of the Year by the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

From 1989 until 1993, Dan hosted a nightly talk show locally, as well as a five-hour Saturday morning show that ran until 1995. More than interviews and conversations with listeners, Dan's shows involved unique undertakings. His radio documentaries won acclaim, as well as the Silver Medal in an international broadcast competition in 1993. Listeners will recall some of Dan's popular radio features, including "Along The River," an outdoorstravelogueand natural history, "Country Life Farm," a visit to a Maryland thoroughbred farm, "900 E.33rdSt.," a radio elegy to Memorial Stadium, "A Western Maryland Winter," and "The Greatest Game Never Played," a Chuck Thompson-Rex Barney play-by-play of a fictional game between the greatest Yankees and greatest Orioles.

A collection of Dan's columns, "MenckenDoesn't Live Here Anymore," was published in 1989, and in 1998 he authored, "Baltimore: Charm City," a celebration of Baltimore featuring the work of several accomplished photographers.

Dan also has performed in semi-professional theater in Baltimore.  His stage credits include: Young Victorian Theater Co., Samuel, The Pirates ofPenzance, 1986;Monterrarat,Iolanthe, 1986;Shadbolt, The Yeoman of the Guard, 1987;Koko, TheMikado, 1988; Sir Joseph Porter, HMS Pinafore, 2001; and for Action Theater: Charlie, Death of a Salesman, 1999.  His performance in Pinafore was voted one of the Top Ten of the year by the City Paper.

Dan has lived in the Baltimore area since 1976, in the city since 1987.