John U. Bacon

Last updated
John U. Bacon
Occupation
  • Author
  • sports journalist
Education Huron High School
University of Michigan (B.A., M.A.)
Subject
  • Sports
  • business
SpouseChristie Breitner (2014–present)
Children1

John U. Bacon is an American journalist, educator and author of books on sports and business, as well as a sports commentator on TV and radio.

Contents

Background

After graduating from Huron High School, Bacon earned a bachelor's degree in History and a master's degree in Education from the University of Michigan. His first journalism job was as a lifestyle reporter for The Ann Arbor News in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1995, Bacon became a sports feature writer for The Detroit News . During this period, he wrote articles on baseball player Jackie Robinson, the sport of bullfighting, and high school basketball at a Potawatomi Native American reservation in Michigan. [1]

In 1998, Bacon traveled to Nagano, Japan to cover the 1998 Winter Olympics for The Detroit News. [2] After the Olympics, Bacon left The Detroit News to become a freelance writer. He has written articles for The New York Times , Time , and ESPN The Magazine . [2]

In 2000, Bacon started his radio career with a sports show on WAAM in Ann Arbor. In 2002, he started a radio show, Off the Field, on WTKA in Ann Arbor. In 2007, Bacon began providing weekly sports commentary on Michigan public television stations. [2]

In 2005, Bacon was awarded a Knight-Wallace Fellowship for journalism from the University of Michigan. [1]

Books

Bacon is the author of numerous books on sports, business, health, and history, including:

Three and Out, [9] Fourth and Long [10] and Endzone [11] have been New York Times bestsellers.

Media appearances

Bacon provides weekly sports commentary for Michigan Radio and appears often on NPR, ESPN and the Big Ten Network, among other networks. In 2015, his radio essay won first prize in the Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI) awards. [12] Bacon has been a guest on NPR's quiz shows Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! [13] and Ask Me Another . [14]

Bacon gives speeches for corporations and other organizations, including three TEDx talks, [15] another to receive the Golden Apple Award, [16] and the Knight-Wallace Fellows Program's Hovey Lecture. [17]

Academia

Bacon teaches at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and at the University of Michigan. In 2009, Michigan students awarded him the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. [18] In 2019, Bacon taught a class on Teaching and Coaching at the University of Michigan School of Education.[ citation needed ]

Bacon coached the hockey team of his alma mater, Huron High School, from 2000 to 2004. He led the team from its worst to its best record in school history in three years. In 2007, Bacon was inducted into the River Rat Hall of Fame. [19]

In 2019, Bacon appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees [20]

Personal life

Bacon is married to the former Christie Breitner, and they have one son. [21]

References

  1. 1 2 "John U. Bacon". Michigan Radio. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "John U. Bacon". Macmillan Speakers. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Bacon, John (2012)
  4. ↑ Matt Schudel (16 August 2016). "John Saunders, longtime ESPN sports announcer, dies at 61". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Bacon, John (2021)
  6. ↑ "50 Years Later, the Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald Lives On". 2025-11-07. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  7. ↑ Halter, Nick (2025-11-10). "50 years later, the Edmund Fitzgerald's story is told again". Axios. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  8. ↑ "The Gales of November". wwnorton.com. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  9. ↑ The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2011) The New York Times
  10. ↑ The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2013) The New York Times
  11. ↑ The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2015) The New York Times
  12. ↑ Chrypinski, Steve (2015) "Michigan Radio Recognized With Three Public Radio News Director Awards" Michigan Radio
  13. ↑ NPR "Not My Job: We Quiz Sportswriter John Bacon On Bacon" (2015)
  14. ↑ NPR "John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College" (2015)
  15. ↑ TEDx Talk "Worst to First: Motivating the Next Generation" (2014)
  16. ↑ Golden Apple Last Lecture (2009)
  17. ↑ Hovey Lecture: "Critically Covering Something You Love" (2014)
  18. ↑ Smith, Asa (2009) "Golden Apple Award recipient John U. Bacon discusses lessons of life, sports" The Michigan Daily
  19. ↑ Ann Arbor Huron "Ann Arbor Huron River Rat Hall of Fame" (2007) Archived 2015-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ "Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees". April 28, 2022.
  21. ↑ McKee, Jenn (2015) "Ann Arbor's John U. Bacon talks about his next book, his (growing) family and more" Mlive
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