John F. Kieran
Encyclopedia
John Francis Kieran was an American
author, journalist, amateur naturalist
and radio
and television
personality
.
, Kieran earned a Bachelor of Science
degree (cum laude) from Fordham University
. He 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. 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".
Although Kieran is widely credited with first applying the term "grand slam" to tennis, to describe the winning of all four major tennis tournaments in a calendar year, sports columnist Alan Gould had used the term in that connection almost two months before Kieran.
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 17, 1938–June 25, 1948). 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 John Kieran's Kaleidoscope. A 15-minute program produced from February 1949 to April 1952, John 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 1921) 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 1964, at the age of 73, Kieran published his autobiography, Not Under Oath. He died in Rockport, Massachusetts
, at the age of 89.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, journalist, amateur naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and radio
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
and television
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
.
Biography
A native of The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, Kieran earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree (cum laude) from Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
. He began his newspaper career in 1915 as a sportswriter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. He continued on the sports beat during his entire career, working for a number of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
newspapers and becoming one of the country's best known sports columnists. During his 1927-1943 tenure as The Times senior sports columnist, he was profiled in the January 9, 1939 issue of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, which described him as "short, wiry, grey, bristly and brilliant".
Although Kieran is widely credited with first applying the term "grand slam" to tennis, to describe the winning of all four major tennis tournaments in a calendar year, sports columnist Alan Gould had used the term in that connection almost two months before Kieran.
A noted "intellectual", he gained extensive personal popularity with his 10-year stint as a panelist on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's most widely heard radio quiz program Information, Please! (May 17, 1938–June 25, 1948). 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
Clifton Fadiman
Clifton P. "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.-Literary career:...
, Kieran entertained and educated radio audiences through the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Within eight months of Information, Please! leaving the air, Kieran entered the new medium of television with TV's first widely syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
show John Kieran's Kaleidoscope. A 15-minute program produced from February 1949 to April 1952, John 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
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
to the theories surrounding the creation of the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
.
Kieran became a familiar face on 1950s television, guesting on numerous panel and quiz shows, including CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' 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 1921) also appeared on 1950s TV, including a stint as a regular panelist in 1955 on another long-running quiz show, Down You Go
Down You Go
Down You Go is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951–1956 as a prime time series hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans...
.
A dedicated bird watcher and observer of the natural world, endowed with a breezy, colloquial writing style, Kieran enjoyed roaming Riverdale
Riverdale, Bronx
Riverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
, 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 1964, at the age of 73, Kieran published his autobiography, Not Under Oath. He died in Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,952 at the 2010 census. Rockport is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula...
, at the age of 89.
Books
- The Story of the Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
- The American Sporting Scene
- Footnotes on Nature
- Nature Notes
- John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
, co-authored with his wife Margaret Kieran - An Introduction to Nature (1946), Garden City, New YorkGarden City, New YorkGarden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...
: Doubleday & Company, Inc. (Revised editions: 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1966) - A Natural History of New York City (1959)
- Not Under Oath (1964), BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
: Houghton Mifflin Co., his autobiography - Poems I Remember: An Anthology of My Favorite Poems (1942), Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co.
Legacy
- 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 ParkVan Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
. The trail is part of the former Putnam Division of the New York Central RailroadNew York Central RailroadThe New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
.