 Born in Madison, Wisconsin, on October
16, 1902, sportswriting legend John Carmichael was known as "the
home run slugger of all sportswriters." During his career he
covered every spring training and World Series from 1929 until his
retirement in 1972. Along with his coverage of baseball, he also
covered football, wrestling, hockey, boxing, and horse racing.
Carmichael began his career at the Milwaukee Journal, as a police
reporter, in 1924. After three years working in Milwaukee, first at
the Journal then the Milwaukee Leader, he moved to
Chicago where he took a position as a sportswriter with the Chicago Herald-Examiner. Then in
1932, Carmichael moved to the Chicago Daily News where he
worked for the rest of his career. In 1934, at the Daily News, he started his famed
column "The Barber Shop" which he wrote for the next 32 years.
Along with writing his column, Carmichael served as sports editor
of the Daily News for the
last 29 years of his career. Shortly after his retirement, in 1974,
he received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Hall of
Fame. Carmichael died June 6, 1986. In recognition of his
outstanding career, he was inducted into the National Sportscasters
and Sportswriters Hall of Fame on May 2, 1994. |