Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times. Thomas Friedman was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota — a suburb of Minneapolis — on July 20, 1953. He is the son of Harold and Margaret Friedman. Harold Friedman, who was vice president of a ball-bearing company, United Bearing, died of a heart attack in 1973, when Tom was nineteen years old.... Margaret Friedman, who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and studied home economics at the University of Wisconsin, was a housewife and a part-time bookkeeper. She also was a Senior Life Master Championship bridge player and died in 2008. Friedman has two older sisters, Shelly and Jane. From an early age, Friedman, whose father often brought him to the golf course for a round after work, wanted to be a professional golfer. Friedman is Jewish. He attended Hebrew school five days a week until his Bar Mitzvah, then St.
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