The shop of Jack Anderson, the hard-chargin’ reporters who, at one point, was the second-most read columnist in the nation (behind Ann Landers), was the starting point for many of this generation’s best investigative reporters.

Over the column’s run six people shared a byline with him: Les Whitten, Joesph Spear, Dale Van Atta, Michael Binstein, Jan Moller, and Douglas A. Cohn.

Perhaps more impressively, though, were the interns and cub reporters who worked out of Anderson’s shop. Among the list were the Post’s Howard Kurtz, CNN’s Ed Henry, Fox’s Brit Hume, National Journal’s Julie Kosterlitz, the Boston Globe’s Michael Kranish, and Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Here’s a quick run-down of some of the other illustrious Anderson proteges: The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson, former Washington Post columnist Charlie Bermant, Hal Bernton (winner of a 1989 Pulitzer), Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio, the Washington Star’s David Braaten and George Clifford, NBC’s Jack Cloherty, the LAT’s Gary Cohn (winner of a 1998 Pulitzer), Sally Denton, John Dillon, NBC’s Mark Feldstein, Clinton advisor Don Goldberg, novelist James Grady, NYDN’s Peter Grant, the WSJ’s Lucette Lagnado, the Post’s Allen Lengel, CNNers Jack Mitchell and Eileen O’Connor, ABCers Ira Rosen, Howard Rosenberg, and Matt Speiser, U.S News’ Michael Satchell, and WPer Keith Sinzinger.