Chicago's Jonathan Eig just won the Pultizer Prize, what did he do next?
After fielding congratulatory messages from some of the powerhouses of his craft, what did the recently minted Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Eig do next?
He picked up his daughter from Lincoln Park High School and went to Dairy Queen across the street to celebrate. They both got vanilla soft-serve cones dipped in chocolate.
Eig had just won one of the most prestigious awards in all of journalism --honored with the award for his biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., titled "King: A Life."
Eig, however, admitted that he didn't quite capitalize on the cool dad moment. His daughter's friends didn't know that they were celebrating, and he regretted not buying them ice cream, too.
Not all is lost!
Eig told CBS 2's Brad Edwards that he wants to make it up to them, offering free ice cream to any Lincoln Park student who shows up on Thursday after class.
Dwight Garner of the New York Times called "King: A Life" the "new definitive biography" – and also called the book "supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling, and compulsively readable." Mark Whitaker of the Washington Post said the volume was "infused the narrative energy of a thriller."
Eig uncovered important new details about King's life, including the fact that a quote attributed to King criticizing Malcolm X was fabricated and how the FBI became obsessed with his sex life in an effort to destroy him.
"I knew I had to share that with the world," Eig said. "I am not thinking about winning awards. I am thinking about trying not to screw up this important job I have in telling this story."
After the news broke, Eig said some fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning historians reached out, including Doris Kearns Goodwin and fellow King biographer David Garrow.
"I was shocked and so happy," Eig said of winning the award, adding that the honor is a tribute to King's story and correcting the historical record of his life.
Eig shared that Laura Hillenbrand, the author of "Seabiscuit," changed his life.
He said he aimed to write a book as good as hers.
The two have never met, and Eig hopes to change that someday.
