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Michael MacCambridge (born June 21, 1963) is an American author, journalist and TV commentator. He is the author, co-author, or editor of 8 books, including the acclaimed ''America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation''. MacCambridge's most recent book is'' '69 Chiefs: A Team, a Season and the Birth of Modern Kansas City'', chronicling the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
' 1969 Super Bowl championship season. It was released in October 2019 by
Andrews McMeel Publishing Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (formerly Andrews, McMeel and Parker (1975–1986) and Andrews and McMeel (1986–1997)) is a company that publishes books, calendars, and related toys. It is a part of Andrews McMeel Universal, which comprises A ...
.


Early life

MacCambridge was born in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas, but lived the majority of his youth in
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, moving there at age 8 after 3 years in Franklin, Nebraska and
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. He graduated from The Barstow School in 1981. He attended
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...
for two years before transferring to
Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...
, where he graduated with a B.S. in journalism in 1985. The following year he earned a Master's degree from the
Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...
at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
.


Career


Writer/Author

MacCambridge began his career as a copy editor and staff writer at the ''
Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...
''. He was hired by ''
Daily Variety ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...
'' as a staff writer/reviewer in 1987. In 1988 he was hired by the ''
Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...
'' as a pop music critic; in 1990 he became the ''American-Statesman''s film critic, a position he held until 1995. During his tenure at the ''American-Statesman'', he founded the Society of Texas Film Critics. He departed to launch a career as an author, which began upon the 1997 release of ''The Franchise: A History Of
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
Magazine''. ''The Franchise'' was named a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Noteworthy Book that year. He then edited the ''New York Times'' bestseller ''ESPN SportsCentury'', which accompanied the
release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to i ...
of
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's Top 100 athletes of the 20th Century. The book featured an introduction by
David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...
and original essays by
Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began w ...
,
Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...
,
Tony Kornheiser Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former Sports journalism, sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Wa ...
, Nelson George and Roy Blount Jr., among others. In 2004 Random House released MacCambridge's ''America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation''.
Jonathan Yardley Jonathan Yardley (born October 27, 1939) is an American author and former book critic at ''The Washington Post'' from 1981 to December 2014, and held the same post from 1978 to 1981 at the '' Washington Star''. In 1981, he received the Pulitzer ...
listed the book as among 2004's most distinguished releases, and Chris Willis of
NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces advertisement film, commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentary film, documentaries ...
rated ''America's Game'' the "top pro football book of all-time." MacCambridge served as editor of the 2005 ''ESPN College Football Encyclopedia'', which ''Sports Illustrated'' described as "of truly Biblical proportions...Massive in scope and minute in detail, it's a worthy successor to its ancestor, ''
The Baseball Encyclopedia ''The Baseball Encyclopedia'' is a baseball reference book first published by Macmillan in 1969. Nine further editions of the book were released between 1974 and 1996. ''The Baseball Encyclopedia'' features statistical summaries for Major League ...
''." In 2016 MacCambridge completed the biography ''Chuck Noll: His Life's Work'', published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. MacCambridge contributed an essay on the post-World War II rise of pro football to the 2009 release of '' A New Literary History of America'' by
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
and Werner Sollors. He has also contributed freelance columns and essays to ''The New York Times'', ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' and ''Sports Illustrated'', among other publications. In August 2019 MacCambridge and Neil Atkinson began ''Red Letters'', a weekly correspondence about the
Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
for the
Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...
's American website.


Other work

MacCambridge co-chairs (along with Sally Jenkins) the awards jury for the Dan Jenkins Medal For Excellence in Sportswriting, sponsored by the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
. He has also served as a Fellow at that university's Center for Sports Communication & Media in the
Moody College of Communication The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened i ...
since 2018.


Personal life

MacCambridge was married to Danica Frost from 1995 to 2005; they have two children, Miles and Ella. He resides in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. He is a devoted fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, and was hired as the editorial coordinator of the Chiefs' Hall Of Honor, which opened in 2010.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCambridge, Michael 1963 births Living people