Tales of human suffering - from AIDS and dying with dignity to childhood poverty and racism - won 1997 Pulitzer Prizes in journalism and the arts.
The Wall Street Journal won the national reporting prize for its coverage of the emergence of powerful new drugs that have proved surprisingly effective against AIDS. One of the writers involved was David Sanford, who has been diagnosed with the disease.The Times-Picayune of New Orleans won two awards, including the public service prize for a series examining how overfishing and pollution are devastating the oceans. The Seattle Times also won two Pulitzers, journalism's most prestigious prizes.
The award for explanatory journalism went to reporter Michael Vitez and photographers April Saul and Ron Cortes of The Philadelphia Inquirer for a series on critically ill patients seeking to die with dignity.
Lisa Pollak of The (Baltimore) Sun won in feature writing for her portrait of a baseball umpire who endured the death of a son while knowing that another son suffered from the same deadly disease.
Eric Nalder, Deborah Nelson and Alex Tizon of The Seattle Times won for investigative reporting for stories on corruption in a federally sponsored housing program for American Indians.
The Associated Press won a Pulitzer for a photo of Russian President Boris Yeltsin dancing at a rock concert while campaigning for re-election.
The prize for spot news reporting went to Newsday for coverage of the mysterious explosion of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island last summer.
John F. Burns of The New York Times won the international reporting award for coverage of the regime imposed on Afghanistan by the Taliban.
The commentary prize went to Eileen McNamara of The Boston Globe for columns on Massachusetts issues. McNamara started at the Globe 21 years ago as a secretary.
The criticism award went to Tim Page of The Washington Post for music.
Annie Wells of The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif., won the spot news photography prize for her photograph of a firefighter rescuing a teenager from floodwaters.
The fiction prize was given to Skidmore College professor Steven Millhauser for "Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer." He was in class when he heard the news.
In the arts, Wynton Marsalis' "Blood on the Fields," a composition about African-Americans that combined tone poems and songs, won for music. It was the first time a piece with jazz elements has won the music award.
"It's another sign that our music is important," said Marsalis, 35, one of the world's great jazz trumpeters.
Frank McCourt, a retired high school English teacher, won the biography Pulitzer for "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir," his recollection of growing up poor and hungry in Ireland. The book - his first - has been on the bestseller list for 30 weeks.
The poetry award went to Lisel Mueller, 73, for "Alive Together: New and Selected Poems."
Richard Kluger won the general non-fiction award for "Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris."