Home › Alumni › Pulitzer Prize Winners
Oscar Griffin, Jr. received the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 while editor of the Pecos Independent and Enterprise. He was awarded the prize for his efforts in initiating the exposure of the Billie Sol Estes scandal. The newspaperâs stories brought a major fraud against the United States government to national attention and resulted in the prosecution and conviction of Estes.
Griffin received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1958. He was born in Daisetta, Texas, and has served Texas readers since 1960. He was editor of the Canyon News and the Pecos Independent and Enterprise. He also worked for the Houston Chronicle from1962 to 1969 as a reporter and White House correspondent.
From 1969 to 1974, Griffin took a respite from writing for the public sector to serving it as Assistant Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation. After his work in Washington he returned to Texas and founded Griffin Well Service, an oil company in El Campo. Also in that time he graduated from the Harvard School of Business.
In 1963, Griffin also received an award for investigative reporting from the Southwest Journalism Forum.
Griffin is currently a freelance writer in Houston.
Source: Who's Who In America, 52nd, 51st, 50th 49th, 48th Editions; Who's Who in the South and Southwest, 24th Edition