John F. Kieran
John F. Kieran (
August 2 1892 -
December 10 1981) was an American sportswriter and naturalist. Born in
New York City, in 1915 he began writing for
The New York Times on the sports desk and went on to work for several newspapers in New York City. In 1938 he began a 12-year stint as one of the panelist on the radio program
Information Please and later hosted two television series. A dedicated birdwatcher and observer of the natural world, endowed with a breezy, colloquial writing style, Kieran roamed the Riverdale neighborhood of
the Bronx at a time when development was encroaching on formerly natural areas. His 1959 book
A Natural History of New York City is still read today for its keen observations of birds, reptiles, geography, fish "in troubled waters," and mammals within the city limits. Kieran's books include
The Story of the Olympic Games,
The American Sporting Scene,
Footnotes on Nature, and
John James Audubon (with Margaret Kieran).
Kieran is credited with coining the term
Grand Slam in tennis. He died in 1981.
