George Plimpton (1927–2003) was an American journalist, writer, and editor best known for pioneering participatory journalism, the act of immersing himself in the experiences he wrote about. After graduating from Harvard, he studied at King’s College, Cambridge in 1952, further honing his literary craft.
Plimpton co-founded and served as long-time editor of The Paris Review, a landmark literary magazine that published interviews with many of the 20th century's greatest writers. He gained fame through books like Paper Lion and Out of My League, in which he trained professional athletes to write firsthand accounts. Plimpton also acted in films, wrote for television, and became a cultural icon for his innovative journalistic style. Learn more.