Williams joined The Washington Post in 1972 as an assistant editor of the Style Section. When the cast and crew of the Robert Redford movie All The President's Men descended on the newsroom to conduct research for the film, Williams served as the assignment editor on the article about the experience behind the scenes. "It was the age of cool. And suddenly we were cool," Williams said. "You could put out nine calls on deadline at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and get nine callbacks in a half an hour. People were paying attention." He was arts editor at the paper from 1976-1980. In 1981, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for a series on Isidore Zimmerman, wrongly imprisoned for 25 years. In 1984, he joined Bob Woodward's investigative team.
Television
In 1986, ABC produced a three-hour movie of the week, Under Siege, written by Bob Woodward, Richard Harwood and Williams based on their terrorism reporting. After Williams and Woodward penned an episode of the NBC crime dramaHill Street Blues, Williams left the Post and moved to Hollywood. With David Milch, Williams created Capital News, an ABC drama based on a morning newspaper in Washington, D.C. Williams also created which became a worldwide hit in syndication. He was not involved in the production of the series. Williams was co-executive producer of the HBO funeral-home drama "Six Feet Under" when the show was nominated for "Outstanding Drama Series" in 2002.
Sailing
Williams has twice sailed from California to Hawaii, single-handed. The first voyage of Thelonious, an Ericson 32-3, took 20 days there and 28 days back. At age 74 he repeated the solo round trip of 5,000 miles on Thelonious II, a 1984 Ericson 38, with 17 days outbound and 22 days return. Video documentaries of his sailing adventures have more than 5 million views on the YouTube channel “Christian Williams Sailing.”
Books
Williams chronicled the founding of CNN in the 1981 Ted Turner biography "Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way." Williams' 2016 book "Alone Together: Sailing Solo to Hawaii and Beyond" recounts his solo sail two years earlier to Hawaii and back in his 32-foot sloop "Thelonious." “Philosophy of Sailing: Offshore in Search of the Universe”, published in 2018, attempts to apply techniques of phenomenology and other forms of inquiry to the experience of isolation and solitude. His novel, “Rarotonga,”, explores the attempt of a controversial millionaire to flee family, the IRS and a murder charge in search of paradise alone on his luxury sailing yacht.
