 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
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