New York Times reporter Dan Barry is a voice of America. Since 2007, he has written the paper’s “This Land” column, covering in-depth news and human-interest stories across all 52 states, always with his insightful and soulful style of journalism. He has worked at The New York Times since 1995, and has served as city hall bureau chief, Long Island bureau chief, acting police bureau chief, and a reporter for the Metropolitan Desk. He has also worked as the paper’s “About New York” columnist.

In April, Barry published his third book, The Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption and Baseball’s Longest Game. It takes a panoramic look at the 1981 Triple A minor league game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings, which went on for 33 innings to become the longest game in the history of professional baseball.

Born in Queens in 1958 and raised in Deer Park, N.Y., Barry graduated from St. Bonaventure University and earned his master’s in journalism from New York University. After working for The Journal Inquirer in Manchester, CT, he joined the Providence Journal-Bulletin in 1987. There he covered Rhode Island state politics and organized crime, and was on the four-person team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, for investigations into the state’s corrupt court system.

In 2003 Barry was awarded the American Society of Newspaper Editors award for deadline reporting, for his coverage of the first anniversary of September 11th. He also won the 2005 Mike Berger Award, from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Barry’s first book, Pull Me Up, a memoir detailing his Irish-Catholic upbringing, his mother’s death due to lung cancer, his early years as a reporter and his own battle with tracheal cancer, was published to acclaim in 2005. In 2007 he released City Lights: Stories About New York, a collection of his “About New York” columns.

Barry and his wife, Mary Trinity, live in New Jersey with their daughters Nora and Grace.