Boston Celtics Captain, Paul Pierce, Named the Boston Globe Magazine’s ‘Bostonian of the Year’

The Boston Globe Magazine today announced that it has selected Boston Celtics captain, Paul Pierce, as its 2008 Bostonian of the Year. Mr. Pierce will be featured in a special edition of the Globe Magazine which will be available in The Boston Globe on Sunday, December 21. In choosing Mr. Pierce, the Globe Magazine cited "his pivotal role in bringing green glory back to New England and … his perseverance through a decade when that seemed more like a hopeless cause.” This is the fifth year that the Globe Magazine has selected a Bostonian of the Year. Previous winners have included Governor Deval Patrick, housing activist Bruce Marks, Big Dig whistleblower Edward Ginsburg, and Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein.

According to Globe Magazine editor Doug Most, the Celtics’ ‘worst-to-first’ 2008 season, capped by the team’s 17th championship, was a monumental story that captured the hearts of Boston sports fans. It also reshaped basketball’s popularity in a town where the sport that was once king had fallen badly. Mr. Pierce was the centerpiece to the 2008 team, garnering the MVP trophy in the NBA finals and elevating himself among the elite players who have taken the court for the Celtics.

"In a year when good news was hard to find, Paul’s story was uplifting in so many ways," said Mr. Most. "He’s played his entire career for the Celtics but easily could have abandoned the team when they were a perennial cellar dweller. When the team’s owners finally delivered on his request for help, he returned their commitment with his own, and brought the city the game’s ultimate award – a championship ring.”

The Globe Magazine features an in-depth profile of Mr. Pierce written by staff writer Neil Swidey. The article talks about Mr. Pierce’s childhood, his family and the lessons learned from his older brothers who would never let him take the easy road in life. It also looks at Mr. Pierce’s strained relationship with his father and his new perspective on life now that he, himself, is the father to an eight-month old baby girl.

In addition, the Magazine profiles a variety of other notable Bostonians of 2008, including Jon Favreau, a graduate of North Reading High School and Holy Cross, who rose up at age 27 to become President-elect Obama's chief speechwriter; Nicole Freedman, the City of Boston's bike czar who is helping Boston shed its label as a horrible city for cyclists to become a model for all cities to follow; and Ben Papapietro, the Sudbury teenager-turned hero in the heat of a fatal Green Line trolley crash in Newton.

The Bostonian of the Year is selected by the editors of The Boston Globe Magazine, with input from Globe readers who are encouraged to email their suggestions each year to bostonian@globe.com.

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