- Michael Kernan
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Michael Jenkins Kernan, Jr. (April 29, 1927 - May 4, 2005) was an American author and journalist.[1] He was born in Utica, New York and grew up outside Clinton, New York, where his father Michael J. Kernan (1884-1952) was an investment broker and New York State Senator (Dem, 1933-34).[1][2] His great-grandfather Francis Kernan (1816-1892) was a U.S. Senator (D-NY).[1]
Kernan graduated from Harvard University in 1949, and began working for the Watertown Daily Times, staying there until 1953.[1] From 1953 to 1966 he was an editor and reporter for the Redwood City Tribune, a paper in California.[1] Kernan's long career at the Washington Post started in 1967. In 1969 he became one of the founding journalists of the new Style section.[1] He would remain at the Post in the Style section for the rest of his primary career, writing articles on a wide variety of subjects, including about his speech impediment of stuttering.[1] Kernan's final story as a staff writer was on June 18, 1989.[1]
Kernan published a novel The Lost Diaries of Frans Hals (1994), and a work of non-fiction The Violet Dots (1978), about a British soldier who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I.[3][1] He published over 100 articles for the Smithsonian Magazine, including seven years writing the "Around the Mall and Beyond" column.[1]
Benjamin C. Bradlee, executive editor of The Post, described Kernan as a "poet in newspaperman's clothing."[1] Mary Hadar, former editor of the Post's Style section, said "He was a glorious writer who could make anything interesting."[1]
References
External links
- Works by Michael Kernan at The Washington Post
- Works by Michael Kernan at Smithsonian Magazine
Categories:- 1927 births
- 2005 deaths
- Harvard University alumni
- The Washington Post journalists
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