Linda M. Kahn (September 15, 1948 – August 30, 2021) was an American television executive. She held senior posts at

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

and

Scholastic Media Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

, and was president of the board of the New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).

Early life

Kahn was born in Chicago, the daughter of Albert Kahn and Estelle Bain Kahn. Her family was Jewish. She graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

in 1970, and earned a master's degree in education at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Career

Kahn taught school in Massachusetts after college. In the 1980s she was vice-president of acquisitions at Nickelodeon, and helped to launch

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET/Pac ...

, a popular evening package of original shows and old

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

, targeted at Baby Boomers and their families. "It's upbeat programming, slightly nostalgic and a little bit whimsical", she explained in a 1985 interview. She introduced programming including

Ren & Stimpy ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...

, Rugrats, and

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

to international markets. At Scholastic Media from 1995 to 2008, she was responsible for international promotion and brand development for Goosebumps, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Maya & Miguel,

Stellaluna ''Stellaluna'' is a 1993 Children's literature, children's book by Janell Cannon. It is about a young fruit bat, Stellaluna, who becomes separated from her mother and finds her way to a nest of birds. She is adopted by them and learns bird-like ...

, the Magic School Bus, Animorphs, and WordGirl. Kahn was president of the board of the New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) from 2003 to 2005. In 2008 she gave an oral history interview for NYWIFT's Archive Project, and began her own consulting firm, Linda Kahn Media. Beginning in 2010, Kahn worked with Bridge Media to create educational children's programming for blind and disabled students. She was active in leadership with the New York chapter of

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

, a breast cancer charity, and served on the New York board of BAFTA.

Personal life

Kahn was married to Christopher Gordon for 29 years, until she died in New York City, from breast cancer, in 2021, aged 72 years. In tribute, the

New York Institute for Special Education The New York Institute for Special Education is a private nonprofit school in New York City. The school was founded in 1831 as a school for blind children by Samuel Wood, a Quaker philanthropist, Samuel Akerly, a physician, and John Dennison Russ ...

established a Linda Kahn Afterschool Fund. Her college papers, including records of her anti-war activism and her semester abroad in London, are in the collection of the Washington University Archives.

References

External links

An oral history interview Kahn gave in 2008
for NYWIFT's Archive Project, on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Linda 1948 births 2021 deaths American Jews American television executives Washington University in St. Louis alumni Boston University School of Education alumni Mass media people from Chicago