John Kieran

John F. Kieran (August 21892—December 91981) was an American writer, amateur naturalist and radio and television personality.

A native of The Bronx, Kieran began his newspaper career in 1915 as a sportswriter for "The New York Times". He continued on the sports beat during his entire career, working for a number of New York newspapers and becoming one of the country's best known sports columnists, credited with coining the tennis term "grand slam". During his 1927-1943 tenure as "The Times"' senior sports columnist, he was profiled in the January 9, 1939 issue of "Time" magazine, which described him as "short, wiry, grey, bristly and brilliant".

A noted intellectual, he gained extensive personal popularity with his 10-year stint as a panelist on NBC's most widely heard radio quiz program "Information, Please!" (May 171938–June 251948). His seemingly encyclopedic erudition and quick wit, combined with an aura of gentle modesty, endeared him to the listening audience and assured his place on the show. Along with fellow intellectuals Franklin P. Adams and host Clifton Fadiman, Kieran entertained and educated radio audiences through the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War. Within eight months of "Information, Please!" leaving the air, Kieran entered the new medium of television with TV's first widely syndicated show "Kieran's Kaleidoscope". A 15-minute program produced from February 1949 to April 1952, "Kieran's Kaleidoscope" presented its writer and host in his well-acquainted role as the learned and witty guide to the complexities of human knowledge. The 104 episodes touched on any and every subject from the mating habits of insects to the properties of magnetic attraction to the theories surrounding the creation of the solar system.

Kieran became a familiar face on 1950s television, guesting on numerous panel and quiz shows, including CBS' 13-week revival of "Information, Please!" as a 1952 summer replacement show, the only time it would be seen on TV.

Kieran's son, John Kieran, Jr. (born ) also appeared on 1950s TV, including a stint as a regular panelist in 1955 on another long-running quiz show, "Down You Go".

A dedicated bird watcher and observer of the natural world, endowed with a breezy, colloquial writing style, Kieran enjoyed roaming Riverdale, his home area of the northwest Bronx, recording for posterity the changing scene at a time when the post-World War II housing boom was encroaching on, and eventually eliminating, formerly natural areas. His 1959 book "A Natural History of New York City" has continued to be read for its observations on local geography as well as birds, reptiles, fish "in troubled waters" and mammals within the city limits. In 1987, six years after his death, the New York City Parks Department inaugurated "The John Kieran Nature Trail", which runs along some of the most scenic areas of the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park.

Kieran's other books include "The Story of the Olympic Games", "The American Sporting Scene", "Footnotes on Nature" and "John James Audubon", co-authored with his wife Margaret Kieran. In 1964, at the age of 73, he published his autobiography, "Not Under Oath".

John Kieran died in Rockport, Massachusetts, at the age of 89.

References

Kieran, John (1964). "Not Under Oath". Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

External links

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* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771306,00.html A profile of John Kieran in the January 9, 1939 issue of "Time" magazine]
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/spink_bios/kieran_john.htm A photograph of John Kieran, along with a brief biography]
* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11616 New York City Parks Department's description of the John Kieran Nature Trail]
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=%22john%20kieran%22 Links to John Kieran-narrated documentaries at Archive.org]