John S. Knight

John Shively Knight
Born	October 26, 1894 Bluefield, West Virginia
Died	June 16, 1981 Akron, Ohio
Cause of death	Heart attack
Residence	Akron, Ohio
Education	Cornell University
Occupation	Newspaper publisher & editor
Known for	Co-founder of Knight Ridder newspapers & Co-Founder of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Board member of	Knight Ridder, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Associated Press
Spouse	1) Katherine "Kitty" McLain (married 1921 - d. 1929) 2) Beryl Zoller Comstock (married 1932 - d. 1974) 3) Mary Elizabeth Augustus (m. 1976 - d. 1980)
Children	1) John Shively, Jr. (KIA 1945) 2) Charles Landon II (1924-2000) 3) Frank McLain (d. 1958)
Parents	Charles Landon Knight & Clara Irene Scheifly
Awards	Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing (1968) Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award (1969) John Peter Zenger Award William Allen White Foundation Award National Press Award Poor Richard Gold Medal of Achievement Award

John Shively Knight (October 26, 1894 – June 16, 1981) was an American newspaper publisher and editor. He was born in Bluefield, West Virginia to Charles Landon Knight and Clara Scheifly. He attended Cornell University but never graduated, leaving early to enlist in the Army. While at Cornell he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. However, he later received the degree of "War Alumnus." In 1920 he started at his father's newspaper, The Beacon-Journal, as sportswriter, and moved up to managing editor before inheriting the paper in 1933. Beginning a nationwide expansion, Knight bought the Miami Herald in 1937. His portfolio included fifteen newspapers by 1973. A year later he merged his company with Ridder Publications to form Knight-Ridder Newspapers Inc.

His nationwide column, "The Editor's Notebook", won him the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. In 1969 Knight received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College.

He co-founded what would become the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with his brother James L. Knight.

John Knight and his wife and Katherine lost two of three three sons at early ages. Lieutenant John S. Knight, Jr. was killed in action near Münster, Germany on March 29, 1945. Youngest son Frank McLain Knight died at age thirty on March 9, 1958 following emergency brain surgery.

During his retirement, John Knight devoted much of his time to the raising of Thoroughbred race horses at his Fourth Estate Stable based in Miami, Florida.

Knight died of a heart attack in Akron, Ohio.

References

• Carmody, Deirdre. (June 17, 1981). "A Writer and a Businessman". The New York Times, p. 5.
• John S. Knight biography via University of Akron
• Whited, Charles. Knight: A Publisher in the Tumultuous Century. E P Dutton 1st edition December 1, 1988. ISBN 0-525-24723-8

http://www3.uakron.edu/library/jsknight/bio.html

Dedications

• The John S. Knight Auditorium is a large lecture hall in Leigh Hall, a building on the campus of the University of Akron.
• The John S. Knight Reading Room is located in Bierce Library, a building on the campus of the University of Akron.
• The John S. Knight Center is a large convocation located in downtown Akron, Ohio.
• The John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines at Cornell University.

External links

• Photo