John Shively Knight (October 26, 1894 – June 16, 1981) was an American

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

publisher and editor based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

Early life and education

Knight was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, to Charles Landon Knight and Clara Irene Shively. Known to his family and friends as "Jack," he attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

but never graduated, leaving early to enlist in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. While at Cornell he was a member of the

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...

fraternity. However, he later received the degree of "War Alumnus."

Career

In 1920 he started at his father's newspaper, ''

The Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jou ...

'', as sportswriter, and moved up to managing editor before inheriting the paper in 1933. In 1923, Knight served as the fourth president of the Akron Host Lions Club. Beginning a nationwide expansion, Knight bought the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Office of Censorship The Office of Censorship was an emergency wartime agency set up by the United States federal government on December 19, 1941 to aid in the censorship of all communications coming into and going out of the United States, including its territories ...

, in London. By 1973, his portfolio included fifteen newspapers. A year later, 1974, he merged his company with Ridder Publications to form Knight-Ridder Newspapers Inc. He co-founded what would become the

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

with his brother James L. Knight.

Honors and awards

* His nationwide column, "The Editor's Notebook," won him the 1968

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

for editorial writing. * In 1969 Knight received the

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. Following his murder by a mob, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause opposing slavery ...

Award as well as an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

degree from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanth ...

Personal life

John Knight lost first his wife, Katherine, and then two of three sons at early ages. Lieutenant John S. Knight, Jr. was killed in action near

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

on March 29, 1945. Youngest son Frank McLain Knight died at age thirty on March 9, 1958 following emergency brain surgery. In retirement, John Knight devoted much of his time to the raising of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

race horses at his Fourth Estate Stable based in Miami. Knight died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

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 University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...

. *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 The John S. Knight Center is a large convocation center located in Akron, Ohio, named after the newspaper publisher and editor John S. Knight John Shively Knight (October 26, 1894 – June 16, 1981) was an American newspaper publisher and edito ...

is a large convention center in downtown Akron. *The John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines at

. *The

John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford The John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford is a paid 10-month journalism fellowship at Stanford University. It is one of 20 such programs available in the US for working journalists. It is connected to the School of Humanities and Sc ...

support journalists from around the world in exploring solutions to issues facing innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership in journalism, thanks to a $4 million grant from the

in 1984.John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford.
Accessed November 21, 2017.

References

External links

* Photo {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, John S. 1894 births 1981 deaths Military personnel from West Virginia American military personnel of World War I American newspaper editors American newspaper chain founders American racehorse owners and breeders 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Cornell University alumni Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients Journalists from West Virginia Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners Businesspeople from Akron, Ohio People from Bluefield, West Virginia Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners Knight family (newspapermen) 20th-century American journalists American male journalists