Wikipedia

John Feinstein

John Feinstein (/ˈfaɪnstiːn/ FYNE-steen;[1] July 28, 1955 – March 13, 2025) was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator. A long-time sports reporter at the Washington Post, he also wrote numerous books and was particularly known for A Season on the Brink, published in 1986, which chronicled a season with Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team.

John Feinstein
Feinstein in 2014
Feinstein in 2014
Born(1955-07-28)July 28, 1955
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 13, 2025(2025-03-13) (aged 69)
McLean, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation
  • Sportswriter
  • author
  • sports commentator
  • columnist
Alma materDuke University
Spouse
  • Mary Clare Gibbons
    ​
    (divorced)​
  • Christine Bauch
    ​
    (m. 2010)​
Children3

Early life and education

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Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City[2] on July 28, 1955.[3] His father was the General Manager of the Washington National Opera from 1980 to 1995 as well as the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.[4] He attended Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School and Duke University, where he was a sports reporter for the Duke Chronicle and graduated in 1977.[3][5][6]

Career

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Feinstein joined the Washington Post in 1977 and was a full-time reporter there until 1991.[7] He was also a columnist for Sporting News and Golf Digest. His last column, about Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo, was published in the Washington Post on the day of his death, March 13, 2025; he had completed it the day before.[1][7] He received the Curt Gowdy Award for print media of the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013,[8] and was a voter in the AP Top 25 poll for men's college basketball for more than 20 years.[7]

In broadcasting, he was a commentator on ESPN, where he appeared regularly on The Sports Reporters, on the Golf Channel, at United States Naval Academy football games,[7][9] and on radio shows and podcasts including The Sports Junkies,[10] The Tony Kornheiser Show, and The Jim Rome Show. On March 8, 2012, he joined SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio channel, teaming up with Bruce Murray for the sports talk show Beyond the Brink.[11] He left by fall 2012 to host his own show on the new CBS Sports Radio, which began 24/7 all sports talk on January 2, 2013.[12] In November 2014, he told an interviewer that CBS had fired him from the show.[10]

Feinstein returned to Duke University in the early 1990s as a visiting professor of sports journalism,[6] and at the time of his death was a writer in residence at Longwood University.[7]

Feinstein wrote more than 40 books, of which the best known is A Season on the Brink (1986), chronicles the 1985–86 season of the Indiana University basketball team under coach Bobby Knight; Feinstein took a leave of absence from the Washington Post to embed himself with the team.[7] An ESPN film adaptation, starring Brian Dennehy as Knight, first aired on March 10, 2002, with a version censored for profanity being simulcast on ESPN2. It was released to DVD later in 2002. After publishing Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story (2004), about the life and final days of Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, who was diagnosed with ALS, Feinstein and long-time friend Terry Hanson engaged the William Morris Agency and commissioned a screenplay in conjunction with Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's production company, LivePlanet. The documentary Caddy for Life was produced in 2010 for the Golf Channel.[13] He also wrote sports novels for young adults.[7]

Personal life and death

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Feinstein was first married to Mary Clare Gibbons; following their divorce, he married Christine Bauch in 2010.[1] He had two children from his first marriage and one from his second.[1]

Feinstein died from an apparent heart attack at his brother's home in McLean, Virginia, on March 13, 2025, at the age of 69.[3][7][14]

Works

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Nonfiction

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Adult fiction

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Fiction for young readers

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Stand-alone

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The Benchwarmers Series

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  1. Benchwarmers (2019) ISBN 9780374312039
  2. Game Changers (2020) ISBN 9780374312053
  3. Mixed Doubles (2022) ISBN 9780374312077

The Sports Beat

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A sports-mystery series for young adults in which main characters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are reporting on major sporting events.

  1. Last Shot: Mystery at the Final Four (2006) ISBN 978-0553494600. Winner of the 2006 Edgar Award in the Best Young Adult category.[20]
  2. Vanishing Act: Mystery at the US Open (2006) ISBN 9780375835926
  3. Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl (2007) ISBN 0-375-84247-0
  4. Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series (2009) ISBN 0-375-85636-6
  5. The Rivalry: Mystery at the Army-Navy Game (2010) ISBN 0-375-86570-5
  6. Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics (2012) ISBN 9780375869631

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Schudel, Matt (March 13, 2025). "John Feinstein, sports commentator and best-selling author, dies at 69". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Q&A with John Feinstein". CSPN. December 1, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Sandomir, Richard (March 13, 2025). "John Feinstein, Who Wrote 'A Season on the Brink', Dies at 69". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  4. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (February 7, 2006). "Martin Feinstein, 84, Dies; Led the National Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  5. ↑ "About John". JFeinsteinBooks.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Levenson, Sophie (March 18, 2025). "John Feinstein died a sportswriting legend. He started out a fiery Chronicle reporter". Duke Chronicle. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Fendrich, Howard (March 14, 2025). "John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of the country's foremost sports writers, dies at 69". AP News. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Eddie Doucette, the Original Voice of the Milwaukee Bucks, Named Recipient of the Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award". National Basketball Association. February 15, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Authors: John Feinstein". Random House. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  10. 1 2 Ourand, John (November 13, 2014). "CBS Sports Radio Fires John Feinstein As Host Of National Show". Sports Business Journal.
  11. ↑ "Best-Selling Author and Renowned Sports Journalist John Feinstein Joins SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio". SiriusXM Radio. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  12. ↑ "CBS Sports Radio". Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Positive feelings about Golf Channel documentary 'Caddy For Life'; book to movie process". Feinstein on the Brink. September 28, 2020. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012.
  14. ↑ Casselberry, Ian (March 13, 2025). "Acclaimed sportswriter John Feinstein, author of 'Season on the Brink,' dies at 68". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  15. ↑ "William Hill Sports Book Of The Year Award 2024". William Hill. November 20, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  16. ↑ Review at World Golf
  17. ↑ Review at Letters On Pages
  18. ↑ "Going 'One On One' With Sports' Greatest Stars". NPR (Fresh Air interview transcript). December 1, 2011. "Audio download". Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  19. ↑ "'The Legends Club' by John Feinstein showcases Smith-Krzyzewski-Valvano dynamic". Chicago Tribune. March 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Winners: Best Young Adult category". Edgar Awards. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
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