{{short description|American journalist}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Tom Junod | image = A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 04 (48735009017) (cropped).jpg | caption = Junod in 2019 | alt = | birthname = | alma_mater = University at Albany, SUNY (BA) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|4|9}} | birth_place = Wantagh, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = | occupation = Journalist | alias = | family = | spouse = Janet Junod | children = Antonia Li Junod | credits = | website = }}
'''Tom Junod''' (born April 9, 1958) is an American journalist who is currently a senior writer for ESPN.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/tom-junod/|title=Tom Junod|work=ESPN Press Room|first=|last=|date=|access-date=November 24, 2025}}</ref> He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062600497.html |title= Bringing Out the Worst In Celebrity Coverage? |first= Peter |last= Carlson |date= June 26, 2007 |newspaper= The Washington Post|accessdate=January 30, 2010}}</ref>
==Early life== In 1980, Junod graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York at Albany.<ref>{{cite book |title= Our fathers: reflections by sons |last= Shepherd |first= Steven L. |year= 2001 |publisher= Beacon Press |isbn= 0-8070-6246-4 |page= [https://archive.org/details/ourfathers00stev/page/248 248] |url= https://archive.org/details/ourfathers00stev/page/248 |url-access= registration }}</ref>
==Career== Junod worked as a writer for ''Esquire'' magazine beginning in 1997, after following editor David Granger to the magazine from ''GQ''. He also worked for ''Atlanta'' magazine, ''Life'', and ''Sports Illustrated''. Junod has published award-winning pieces for several magazines. Among his notable works are ''The Abortionist'', ''The Rapist Says He's Sorry'',<ref>{{cite web |last=Junod |first=Tom |work=GQ |date=December 1995 |url=http://gangrey.com/1151 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905042549/http://gangrey.com/1151 |archive-date=September 5, 2010 |title=The Rapist Says He's Sorry |access-date=November 10, 2019 }}</ref> ''The Falling Man''<ref name="JunodEsquire">{{cite web |last=Junod |first=Tom |work= Esquire | year=2003 |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN |title=The Falling Man }}</ref> and a controversial 2001 piece on R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe, in which he satirically fabricated information for an interview that never happened.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/79609/writer-comes-clean-on-fake-stipe-profile|title= Writer Comes Clean On Fake Stipe Profile |date= May 25, 2001 |magazine= Billboard |accessdate=March 3, 2012}}</ref> As of November 2019, he is a writer for ''ESPN.com''. In 2022, Junod and Paula Lavigne published a story that uncovered the crimes of Penn State football player Todd Hodne in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/32496588/before-jerry-sandusky-penn-state-football-had-another-serial-sexual-predator-untold-story-crimes-fight-bring-justice|title=Untold: Before Jerry Sandusky, Penn State football had another serial sexual predator.|work=ESPN.com|last1=Junod|first1=Tom|last2=Lavigne|first2=Paula|date=April 11, 2022|accessdate=November 24, 2025}}</ref>
Junod is also noted for his ''Esquire'' profile of Fred Rogers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ |accessdate=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402214625/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ |title=Can You Say...Hero? |last1=Junod |first1=Tom |date=April 6, 2017 |website=esquire.com |publisher=Esquire Magazine }}</ref> Junod has stated that his encounter with Rogers changed his perspective on life.<ref name=Atten2019>{{cite web |url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/how-mister-rogers-changed-the-life-of-atlanta-writer-tom-junod/ |accessdate=20 February 2021 |archive-date=November 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119040111/https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/how-mister-rogers-changed-the-life-of-atlanta-writer-tom-junod/ |title=How Mister Rogers changed the life of Atlanta writer Tom Junod |last1=Van Atten |first1=Suzanne |author-link= |date=November 18, 2019 |website=AtlantaMagazine.com |publisher=Atlanta Magazine }}</ref> The event is the premise of the 2019 feature film ''A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood''. Junod also appeared in the critically acclaimed 2018 documentary ''Won't You Be My Neighbor?''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/entertainment/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-column/index.html|title=Mr. Rogers doc 'Wont You Be My Neighbor?' feels right for our less-than-neighborly times|publisher=CNN|date=June 8, 2018}}</ref>
Among his controversial articles, Junod came to regret the tone of his 1997 profile of Kevin Spacey for ''Esquire'' that "more or less outed the actor". At the time Spacey described the profile as "mean-spirited" and "homophobic" and called for a boycott of both the author and publication. "That story had the reek of bad faith to it, to be quite honest with you," Junod admitted when interviewed by ''Atlanta Magazine'' in 2019, noting that the negative response to his Kevin Spacey profile had stalled his career prior to his 1998 Fred Rogers assignment.<ref name=Atten2019/>
==Awards== Junod is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors; one for a profile of John Britton, an abortion doctor,<ref name="GQ">{{Cite news |last=Junod |first=Tom |date=February 1994 |title=The Abortionist |work=GQ |url=http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/gq/906S-000-005.html}}</ref> and one for a profile of a rapist undergoing therapy while enduring what is known as "civil commitment." Two other pieces by him were finalists for the same award.<ref>{{cite news |title= The Missouri Association of Publications 5th Anniversary Publishing Summit Will Be Held March 5 and 6 in Columbia |last= Fennell |first= John |year= 2009 |publisher= University of Missouri Journalism School |url= http://journalism.missouri.edu/news/2009/01-29-map-seminar.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100510023459/http://journalism.missouri.edu/news/2009/01-29-map-seminar.html |archive-date=May 10, 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
In 2011, Junod won the James Beard Award for his essay "My Mom Couldn't Cook", published in ''Esquire'' in September 2010.<ref>{{cite news |title= My Mom Couldn't Cook |last= Junod |first= Tom |year= 2010 |work= Esquire |url= http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/moms-cooking-082410}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1404525 Interview with Tom Junod on NPR's ''All Things Considered''] *[http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN Junod's ''The Falling Man'' feature in ''Esquire''] *[https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ Junod's ''Can You Say...Hero?'' profile in ''Esquire'']
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junod, Tom}} Category:20th-century American male journalists Category:Life (magazine) photojournalists Category:American magazine staff writers Category:University at Albany alumni Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American journalists Category:21st-century American journalists Category:GQ (magazine) Category:Sports Illustrated photojournalists Category:Esquire (magazine) people Category:ESPN people Category:21st-century American male journalists