{{short description|American journalist and author}} {{Infobox Author | name = John U. Bacon | occupation = {{Cslist|Author|sports journalist}} | education = University of Michigan (B.A., M.A.) | spouse = Christie Breitner (2014–present) | children = 1 | subject = {{Cslist|Sports|business}} }} '''John U. Bacon''' is an American sports journalist and author.
==Education== After graduating from Huron High School,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richer |first=Shawna |date=2021-12-31 |title=Leadership Advice from the Coach of America’s ‘Worst’ Hockey Team |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/31/sports/hockey/john-bacon-let-them-lead.html |access-date=2026-04-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Bacon earned a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in education from the University of Michigan.<ref name="Michigan radio">{{cite web|title=John U. Bacon|url=http://michiganradio.org/people/john-u-bacon#stream/0|website=Michigan Radio|accessdate=7 February 2016}}</ref>
== Career == Bacon's first journalism job was as a lifestyle and sports reporter for ''The Ann Arbor News''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alvarado |first=Mickey |date=2026-03-27 |title=National bestselling author John U. Bacon to speak at Freligh Community Lecture Series, March 27, 2026 |url=https://www.adrian.edu/news/2026/03/27/national-bestselling-author-john-u-bacon-to-speak-at-freligh-community-lecture-series |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=Adrian College |language=en}}</ref> In 1995, Bacon became a sports feature writer for ''The Detroit News''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKee |first=Jenn |date=2015-09-03 |title=Ann Arbor's John U. Bacon talks about his next book, his (growing) family and more |url=https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/ann-arbor/2015/09/ann_arbors_john_u_bacon_talks.html |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=mlive |language=en}}</ref>
In 1998, Bacon traveled to Nagano, Japan, to cover the 1998 Winter Olympics for ''The Detroit News''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-22 |title=Author guest speaking at annual dinner |url=https://www.hollandsentinel.com/story/entertainment/human-interest/2014/04/22/author-guest-speaking-at-annual/37544049007/ |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=The Holland Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref> After the Olympics, Bacon left ''The Detroit News'' to become a freelance writer. He has written articles for ''The New York Times'', ''Time'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''ESPN The Magazine''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John U. Bacon |url=https://us.macmillan.com/author/johnubacon |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=Macmillan Publishers |language=en-US}}</ref>
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 2007, Bacon began providing weekly sports commentary on Michigan public television stations.<ref name="speakers">{{cite web|title=John U. Bacon|url=http://www.macmillanspeakers.com/johnubacon|website=Macmillan Speakers|accessdate=7 February 2016}}</ref>
In 2005, Bacon was awarded a Knight-Wallace Fellowship for journalism from the University of Michigan.<ref name="Michigan radio" />
==Books== Bacon is the author of numerous books on sports, business, health, and history, including:
* ''Blue Ice: The Story of Michigan Hockey''. University of Michigan Press, 2001. * ''America's Corner Store: Walgreens' Prescription For Success.'' John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Hoboken, N.J. {{ISBN|0471675083}} * ''Cirque du Soleil, The Spark: Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives Within Us All.'' Doubleday, 2006''. A''bout Cirque du Soleil. * ''Bo's Lasting Lessons, The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership,'' with former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler.<ref>[http://johnubacon.com/bos-lasting-lessons/ Bacon, John (2012)]</ref> Hachette, 2007. The book includes chapters on Woody Hayes, Dave Brandon, Jim Hackett and Brad Bates. * ''Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football''. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011. Some of the players Bacon followed include Brandon Graham, Denard Robinson and Michael Martin, and strength coach Mike Barwis. * ''Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football''. Simon & Schuster, 2013. Explores college football, and the Big Ten, particularly the Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame and Pennsylvania State University football programs. Penn State's Bill O'Brien, Michael Mauti and Michael Zordich are some of the heroes of the story * ''Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football''. St. Martin’s Press, 2015. Covers Dave Brandon's tenure as athletic director and Jim Harbaugh's arrival. * ''Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope''. Da Capo Press, 2017. Written as a memoir with John Saunders and published after Saunders' death.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/john-saunders-longtime-espn-sports-announcer-dies-at-61/2016/08/10/a295d4e0-5f11-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html | title = John Saunders, longtime ESPN sports announcer, dies at 61 | date = 16 August 2016 | accessdate = 5 October 2017 | newspaper = Washington Post | author = Matt Schudel }}</ref> * ''The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism.'' HarperCollins, 2017.
* ''The Best of Bacon: Select Cuts.'' University of Michigan Press, 2018. * ''Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football.'' HarperCollins, 2019. * ''Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team.'' <ref>[https://letthemleadbybacon.com Bacon, John (2021)]</ref> Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. {{ISBN|0358533260}} * ''The Greatest Comeback: How Team Canada Fought Back, Took the Summit Series, and Reinvented Hockey''. HarperCollins Canada, 2022. * ''The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-11-07 |title=50 Years Later, the Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald Lives On |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/books/review/edmund-fitzgerald-50th-anniversary.html |access-date=2025-11-10 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Halter |first=Nick |date=2025-11-10 |title=50 years later, the Edmund Fitzgerald's story is told again |url=https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2025/11/10/book-edmund-fitzgerald-gales-november-john-bacon |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=Axios |language=en}}</ref> Liveright 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Gales of November |url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324094647 |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=wwnorton.com |language=en}}</ref> {{ISBN|978-1-324-09464-7}}
''Three and Out'',<ref>The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2011) [https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-11-13/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html] ''The New York Times''</ref> ''Fourth and Long'' <ref>The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2013) [https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2013-09-22/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html] ''The New York Times''</ref> and ''Endzone'' <ref>The New York Times Best Sellers Hard Cover Nonfiction (2015) [https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-09-20/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html] ''The New York Times''</ref> 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 [http://prndi.org/ Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI)] awards.<ref>Chrypinski, Steve (2015) "Michigan Radio Recognized With Three Public Radio News Director Awards" ''Michigan Radio'' [http://michiganradio.org/post/michigan-radio-recognized-three-public-radio-news-director-awards#stream/0]</ref> Bacon has been a guest on NPR's quiz shows ''Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!'' <ref>[https://www.npr.org/2015/10/03/445257351/not-my-job-we-quiz-sportswriter-john-bacon-on-bacon NPR "Not My Job: We Quiz Sportswriter John Bacon On Bacon" (2015)]</ref> and ''[https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510299/ask-me-another Ask Me Another]''.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2014/07/31/336570477/john-u-bacon-old-macdonald-went-to-college NPR "John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College" (2015)]</ref>
Bacon gives speeches for corporations and other organizations, including three TEDx talks,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IodH46XGCig TEDx Talk "Worst to First: Motivating the Next Generation" (2014)]</ref> another to receive the Golden Apple Award,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dux4ugCoXM]Golden Apple Last Lecture (2009)</ref> and the [http://www.mjfellows.org/ Knight-Wallace Fellows] Program's Hovey Lecture.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFpMh0rC-uI Hovey Lecture: "Critically Covering Something You Love" (2014)]</ref>
==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.<ref>Smith, Asa (2009) "Golden Apple Award recipient John U. Bacon discusses lessons of life, sports" [https://www.michigandaily.com/content/2009-04-01/golden-apple-award-winner-john-bacon-discusses-his-experiences-part-his-ideal-las] ''The Michigan Daily''</ref> In 2019, Bacon taught a class on Teaching and Coaching at the University of Michigan School of Education.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
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.<ref>[http://huron2.aaps.k12.mi.us/halloffame/halloffame/jbacon.html Ann Arbor Huron "Ann Arbor Huron River Rat Hall of Fame" (2007)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813143438/http://huron2.aaps.k12.mi.us/halloffame/halloffame/jbacon.html |date=2015-08-13 }}</ref>
In 2019, Bacon was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2022 |title=Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees |url=https://www.mtu.edu/bot/members/bacon.html}}</ref>
==Personal life== Bacon is married to the former Christie Breitner, and they have one son.<ref>McKee, Jenn (2015) "Ann Arbor's John U. Bacon talks about his next book, his (growing) family and more" ''Mlive'' [http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/09/ann_arbors_john_u_bacon_talks.html]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official|http://johnubacon.com}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, John U}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American sportswriters Category:American sports commentators Category:University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Category:Living people Category:University of Michigan fellows Category:University of Michigan School of Education alumni