Happy National Columnists Day

I was doing a little research for April “holidays” for a client pitch idea and learned that today is National Columnists Day.
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which was founded in 1977, sponsors and promotes this day in support of columnists, journalists and bloggers around the world. This day is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance and contributions made by writers.
April 18 was chosen as the date to honor Ernie Pyle, a Scripps Howard columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner.  Pyle was shot down in 1945, covering battles in the Pacific theater during World War II.
Pyle had already developed a following for his folksy syndicated columns about daily life in America when he began covering the war. His dispatches from Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific would make him the most read—and most imitated—reporter of the war. His stories were not only on military strategy but on the experiences of the soldiers.
Pyle was among the best-known American war correspondents. His syndicated column was published in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers nationwide. President Harry Truman was among those who paid tribute to Pyle, saying: “No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told. He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen.”
So in gratitude to Pyle and all the newspaper columnists and bloggers around the world, Happy National Columnists Day.