John Dennis McCallum (June 27, 1924 – December 17, 1988) was an American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

and author.

Personal life

McCallum was born on June 27, 1924 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

to George A. and Mildred (née Tiedeman) McCallum. He enrolled at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

(then Washington State College) in 1942, but completed only one year before enlisting in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, serving from 1943 to 1945 in

mountain infantry Mountain warfare (also known as alpine warfare) is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. Mountain ranges are of strategic importance since they often act as a natural border, and may also be the origin of a water source (for example, t ...

and

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...

units. Upon returning home, he resumed his studies and graduated in 1947. After a brief stint in professional baseball, playing for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, McCallum moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he began his sportswriting career.McCallum, p. 2-10 In 1961, he married television and movie actress

Marjie Millar Marjorie Joy "Marjie" Millar (August 10, 1931 – April 16, 1966) was an American television and film actress. She was born Marjorie Joy Miller to George W. and Eunice Miller in Tacoma, Washington. Millar's father had changed his surname to "Mill ...

having met her while writing a book about her but the marriage lasted only a few years. Millar later remarried. She died in 1966 at the age of 35.Contemporary, Authors, New Revision Series, p. 405 McCallum died on December 17, 1988 from cardiac arrest at the age of 64. He had long suffered from diabetes and progressive heart disease.Obituary.''The New York Times''. December 21, 1988.

Literary career

In the April 1945 issue of ''Washington State Alumni Powwow'' publication, McCallum is identified as a member of the WSC Class of 1946 and the publication's sports editor. In that issue, McCallum has a "Johnny McCallum" byline on a story headlined "Clips from the Sports Log." The November 1945 issue of ''Powwow'' lists him as sports editor, but does not include a class year. McCallum's student activities included being a member of the WSU Cougar varsity baseball team, coached by Buck Bailey. McCallum graduated from

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

in 1947. After graduation, he worked on several newspapers, including the ''

Tacoma News Tribune ''The News Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020. With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper w ...

'', ''

Tacoma Times ''The Tacoma Times'' was a newspaper published in Tacoma, Washington from 1903 to 1949. It was founded by E. W. Scripps, with editorial personnel taken from ''the Seattle Star''.The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' and the ''

Spokane Daily Chronicle The ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' is a daily digital newspaper in Spokane, Washington. It was founded as a weekly paper in 1881 and grew into an afternoon daily, competing with ''The Spokesman-Review'', which was formed from the merger of two comp ...

''. He moved to New York City in 1947 and eventually served as assistant sports editor of the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

from 1950-54. From 1954-58 he worked as director of the Premium Book Division of A.S. Barnes & Co. As a sportswriter, McCallum wrote books on a variety of topics. One of his most famous works is ''The Tiger Wore Spikes'', a biography of baseball Hall of Famer

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

. The John D. McCallum Memorial Scholarship in Communication at Washington State University was established in his memory by his brother George "Pat" McCallum.magazine.wsu.edu/extra/mccallum

Works

* ''This Was Football'' (1954) * ''The Tiger Wore Spikes: An Informal Biography of Ty Cobb'' (1956) * ''That Kelly Family'' (1957) * ''The Coit Fishing Pole Club Beginners Book of Fishing'' (1958) * ''Six Roads From Abilene: Some Personal Recollections of Edgar Eisenhower'' (1960) * ''Scooper: Authorized Story of Scoop Conlon's Motion Picture World'' (1960) * ''Port Angeles, U.S.A.'' (1961) * ''Everest Diary'' (1966) * ''Going Their Way'' (1969) autobiography * ''College Football, U.S.A.'' (1971) * ''The Story of Dan Lyons, S.J.'' (1973) * ''The Gladiators'' (1974) * ''The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship'' (1974) * ''The Encyclopedia of Boxing Champions, 1882-1975'' (1975) * ''Ty Cobb'' (1975) * ''We Remember Rockne'' (1975) * ''Big Ten Football: Since 1895'' (1976) * ''Ivy League Football: Since 1872'' (1977) * ''College Basketball, U.S.A.'' (1978) * ''Getting Into Pro Football'' (1979) * ''Southeastern Conference Football'' (1980)

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

McCallum manuscripts at Washington State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCallum, John American sportswriters 1924 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers United States Army personnel of World War II People from Tacoma, Washington