Petula Dvorak

Washington, D.C.

Local columnist

Education: University of Southern California

Petula Dvorak is a columnist for The Washington Post's local team who writes about homeless shelters, gun control, high heels, high school choirs, the politics of parenting, jails, abortion clinics, mayors, modern families, strip clubs and gas prices, among other things. Before coming to The Post, she covered social issues, crime and courts in New Orleans, New Jersey and Los Angeles. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and the mother of two boys.
Latest from Petula Dvorak

Lilly Ledbetter, and the wage gap that followed her to retirement and death

Lilly Ledbetter became known as the ‘equal pay lady.’ But even after a law was named for her, she kept talking about the ways unequal pay follows women for life.

October 14, 2024
Lilly Ledbetter revisited the Supreme Court in 2018, 11 years after it ruled against her in a landmark case of wage discrimination. In 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law.

Women who accused Brett Kavanaugh were silenced again

We talk to the National Women’s Law Center about how the FBI non-investigation in Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh is the same, old story.

October 10, 2024
Brett M. Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in Washington on Sept. 5, 2018.

The 2016 election crushed the girls. Now women, they’re revenge voting.

We revisit some of the girls who were middle-schoolers when we spent election night 2016 with them. They’re now women, voting for the first time, with vengeance.

October 7, 2024
Sydney Jones, 21 and a senior at Virginia Tech, just got her ballot and is excited to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, after remembering how disappointed she was when Hillary Clinton didn't win in 2016.

Living to 109 wasn’t what made her amazing. It was the way she did it.

Lillian E. Pharr was the oldest living Washingtonian until her death last month. It was her unstoppable painting, travel and studies that kept her going to 109.

October 4, 2024
Kofi Ofori give the eulogy at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church for his mother, Lillian E. Parr, who was D.C.'s oldest resident when she died at 109.

He was ‘Mr. Walz’ to them, and they want D.C. to know he’s for real.

Former students of Tim Walz who live in the D.C. area gathered to headline a debate watch party and tell wholesome stories about the man who inspired them.

October 2, 2024
Jenny Diaz and Andrea Johnson cheer for their former teacher during a watch party for the 2024 Vice-Presidential Debate in Tommy Joe’s bar in Bethesda, Md., on Tuesday. (Maansi Srivastava for The Washington Post)

What do many veterans want out of the election? Care and concern.

The number of unhoused veterans in the U.S. spiked last year. As two vets prepare to square off for the vice presidential debate, advocates want real answers.

September 30, 2024
Gregory Hammett is seen at the homeless encampment outside Union Station on March 14, 2022.

He saved 200 lives on D-Day, and was finally honored for his heroism

With a color guard Waverly Woodson never got to see, a National Anthem he would never hear and applause he’d never get to acknowledge, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on Thursday.

September 24, 2024
Waverly B. Woodson Jr.’s widow, Joann Woodson, and son, Steve Woodson, accept a Distinguished Service Cross on his behalf from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) at a ceremony at the Capitol on Tuesday.

D.C. seniors are among the nation’s hungriest. Punks to the rescue.

We Are Family D.C. has been delivering meals and companionship to senior citizens of D.C. for 20 years. The organization started in D.C.’s punk community.

September 23, 2024
D.C. resident Lydia Barclay waves goodbye after a visit by We Are Family volunteer Nolan Burger. The organization, founded by members of the D.C. punk rock community, has been delivering meals and visits to more than 1,000 senior citizens for 20 years.

A survivor to her rapist: ‘I, too, am in prison’

Two rape survivors testified again because their attacker wants out of jail. The Sean “Diddy” Combs arrest reminds them how hard Black, female victims fight to be heard.

September 19, 2024

DNA testing told the story that local record keepers lost

Local governments lost his birth records. But Paul J. Hammond used DNA testing to learn his roots aren’t in Georgetown. His birth mother escaped the Holocaust.

September 16, 2024
Paul J. Hammond, left, stands before a painting of his birth mother, Mia Schwarz, who survived the Holocaust thanks to Kindertransport, and gave him up for adoption. On the right is Reg Hoare, a cousin he finally met last year.