Mel Ruder

Mel Ruder was born January 19, 1915, in Manning, North Dakota.^[1] In 1937, Ruder graduated from the University of North Dakota with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in European history. He would go on to graduate from Northwestern University with a master's degree in sociology in 1942.^[3] Ruder served three years as a US Naval officer during World War II.^[1]

In 1946, Ruder headed to Columbia Falls, MT where he created the Hungry Horse News which made its debut on August 8, 1946.^[4] Ruder's most notable work was his coverage of the June 1964 Flathead River flood, during which the Hungry Horse News published more than 12,000 copies in one week.^[5][6] At its peak in the 1960s, Ruder's Hungry Horse News publication had more than 9,000 weekly subscribers from every state.^[6] Ruder retired in 1978, after he sold the publication.^[7]

In 1965, Ruder was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the category of "Local General or Spot News Reporting". His award citation reads: "For his daring and resourceful coverage of a disastrous flood that threatened his community, an individual effort in the finest tradition of spot news reporting."^[8]

in April 1999, Ruder suffered a major stroke. He died less than two years later at the Columbia Falls Veterans Home.^[4] Ruder was the subject of the book titled Pictures, a Park, and a Pulitzer: Mel Ruder and the Hungry Horse News. The book documents the first 32 years of the Hungry Horse News.^[9]