Michael Jay Krasny (born September 22, 1944) is a professor and retired American radio host of '' Forum'', a news and public affairs program on

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

public radio station

KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both of which are PBS member outlets: KQED (channel 9) and KQEH (channel 54). Stu ...

, covering current events, politics, and culture from 1993 to 2021. Additionally, Krasny is currently a professor of English literature at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

Early life

Born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and raised in

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...

, Krasny is a second-generation American whose grandparents immigrated from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and Lithuania and grew up in a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

household. Michael is among the outstanding graduates of

Cleveland Heights High School Cleveland Heights High School (commonly known as Heights, Heights High or Heights High School) is the senior high school of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States. Histo ...

(class of 1962) featured in the book ''Every Tiger Has a Tale.'' Despite his intellectual reputation today, Krasny admits to having had a "bad boy" reputation while growing up in Cleveland Heights.

Career

In the late 1970s, Krasny hosted a weekly Marin County talk show called "Beyond the Hot Tub" on low-power rock radio station KTIM-FM. He went on to host a popular radio program on

KGO (AM) KGO (810 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, and owned by Cumulus Media. KGO operates with 50,000 watts, the highest power permitted AM radio stations by the Federal Communications Commission, but uses ...

from 1984 to December 1992. He became the host of ''Forum'' in 1993, expanding the focus of the program to more national themes. On November 9, 2020, Krasny announced that he would retire from ''Forum'' on February 15, 2021. His last Forum broadcast was on February 12, 2021. Krasny is a professor of English at

where he has taught primarily American literature since 1970. He received his B.A. '' cum laude'' in 1966 and M.A. in 1967 from

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

, where he attended the Honors College and became a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

. He holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 20th century American literature from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. Krasny is a widely published scholar, critic and fiction writer. He has also worked widely as a facilitator and host in the corporate sector and as a moderator for nonprofit events.

Personal life

Krasny is a long-time resident of

Greenbrae, California Greenbrae is a small unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located south-southeast of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 33 feet (10 m), located adjacent to U.S. Route 101 at the opening of the Ross Valley. Part of ...

. SFSU Online Magazine reports that Krasny's wife is an attorney and an alumna of San Francisco State University, and that Krasny has two daughters. In his 2010 book, ''Spiritual Envy'', Krasny revealed that he became agnostic later in life.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Official Michael Krasny website

Michael Krasny biography
at

Office Hours: Focus on Michael Krasny

Michael Krasny faculty profile
at

''Forum'' official webpage

2011 Interview with Michael Krasny
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krasny, Michael American agnostics American memoirists American short story writers American talk radio hosts American television talk show hosts American male journalists Jewish American journalists Journalists from the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco State University faculty KQED Inc. Writers from Ohio University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Ohio University alumni Radio personalities from San Francisco Television personalities from San Francisco American male short story writers People from Greenbrae, California American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish agnostics People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights High School alumni 1944 births Living people