1986 – Jimmy Cannon

Born in New York, New York, in 1909, sportswriting legend Jimmy Cannon wrote history, poetry, and short stories 300 times a year in his daily column “Nobody asked me but….” He saw the athlete’s performance as the aesthetic shape of a moral action. Cannon’s career in newspapers began at age 17, when he joined the New York Daily News as a copy boy, in 1926. Then, he wrote a story that impressed the city editor and was promoted to a general assignment writer. It wasn’t until the mid 1930s that he became a sportswriter, for New York’s American. Then in 1946, he came into his own when he joined the New York Post as a columnist, after returning from the war. He remained with the Post until 1959, when he moved to the Journal American. While working at the Journal American his column became nationally syndicated allowing readers around the country to read his work. Cannons writing style greatly influenced other sportswriters of his time, who tried to emulate his ability to capture and communicate feelings and characters. Cannon died in 1973. He was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame on April 8, 1986.