http://twitter.com/#!/rolandsmartin/status/225244384600408064

Former Washington Post columnist (retired in 2005) and Pulitzer Prize winner William Raspberry died today at the age of 76. Fellow journalists are mourning the loss.

RIP, Bill MT @washingtonpost: Wm Raspberry, Post columnist, 1 of 1st black journalists w/wide following, dies at 76 http://t.co/aRuna1g7

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 17, 2012

So sorry to hear that we've lost William Raspberry. I was lucky to have crossed paths with him during my PhD study at Duke. Rest in Peace.

— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) July 17, 2012

A pioneer has left us: RT @TheWrap: William Raspberry, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist, Dies at 76 http://t.co/4zRwEfTu – Eric D.

— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) July 17, 2012

RIP William Raspberry.

— Gregory Moore (@gregmooreDP) July 17, 2012

William Raspberry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post, passed this morning. He won the… http://t.co/2vaIo3oD

— National Press Club (@PressClubDC) July 17, 2012

William Raspberry died today. His scholarship helped pay my way through @AlcornStateU #rip

— Melissa Faith Payne (@MelissaFPayne) July 17, 2012

RIP to a damn good writer, William Raspberry of @washingtonpost http://t.co/vcoo6bU2

— Ray Steele (@WIBCRaySteele) July 17, 2012

More from The Washington Post:

Mr. Raspberry wrote an opinion column for The Post for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2005. More than 200 newspapers carried his syndicated columns, which were filtered through the prism of his experience growing up in the segregated South.

His writings were often provocative but seldom predictable. Although he considered himself a liberal, Mr. Raspberry often bucked many of the prevailing pieties of liberal orthodoxy. He favored integration but opposed busing children to achieve racial balance. He supported gun control but — during a time when the District seemed to be a free-fire zone for drug sellers — he could understand the impulse to shoot back.

Twitter users are putting politics aside to honor and remember the ground-breaking columnist.

William Raspberry has died, too! For us nuts about politics, his column was must read whether you agreed with him or not….

— Rob Smith Jr (@RobSmithJr) July 17, 2012

William Raspberry was a terrific columnist. RIP.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 17, 2012

William Raspberry Dead at 76 http://t.co/xyuOxheO | Built columns out of conversations with cabbies long before @NYTimesFriedman

— James Joyner (@DrJJoyner) July 17, 2012

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Raspberry’s family and loved ones in their time of loss.

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2012/07/17/pulitzer-prize-winning-washington-post-columnist-william-raspberry-dies-at-76-journalists-mourn/