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Daniel Okrent

February 15, 2024

Daniel Okrent (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, inventing Rotisserie League Baseball,[1] and for writing several books (such as Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, which served as a major source for the 2011 Ken Burns/Lynn Novick miniseries Prohibition). In November 2011, Last Call won the Albert J. Beveridge prize, awarded by the American Historical Association to the year's best book of American history. His most recent book, published May 2019, is The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America.[2]

Early life and education edit

Born to a Jewish family[3] in Detroit, Michigan, Okrent graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit[4] in 1965 and from the University of Michigan, where he worked on the university's student newspaper The Michigan Daily.[citation needed]

Career edit

Most of his career has been spent as an editor, at such places as Alfred A. Knopf; Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich; Esquire Magazine; New England Monthly; Life Magazine; and Time, Inc.

His book Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center (Viking, 2003) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History.

In October 2003, Okrent was named public editor for The New York Times following the Jayson Blair scandal. He held this position until May 2005.

Okrent and Peter Gethers, having acquired the theatrical rights to the site and name of the web series Old Jews Telling Jokes, co-wrote and co-produced a revue of that name.[5] It opened at the Westside Theatre in Manhattan on May 20, 2012.

From 2003-2008, he was chairman of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. He has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Since 2017, Okrent has been listed on the Advisory Board of the Secular Coalition for America.[6]

Okrent's law edit

See also: False balance, Journalistic objectivity, and View from nowhere

Okrent formulated what has become known as "Okrent's law" in an interview comment he made about his new job. It states: "The pursuit of balance can create imbalance because sometimes something is true", referring to the phenomenon of the press providing legitimacy to unsupported fringe viewpoints in an effort to appear even-handed.[7][8][9][10]

Baseball edit

Okrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball, the best-known form of fantasy baseball, in 1979. The name comes from the fact that he proposed the idea to his friends while dining at La Rôtisserie Française restaurant on New York City's East 52nd Street. Okrent's team in the Rotisserie League was called the "Okrent Fenokees", a pun on the Okefenokee Swamp. He was one of the first two people inducted into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame.[11] Okrent was still playing Rotisserie as of 2009 under the team name Dan Druffs. Despite having been credited with inventing fantasy baseball he has never been able to win a Rotisserie League. His exploits of inventing Rotisserie League Baseball were chronicled in Silly Little Game, part of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series, in 2010.[12]

Okrent is also credited with inventing the baseball stat, WHIP.[13] At the time he referred to it as IPRAT, signifying "Innings Pitched Ratio".

In May 1981, Okrent wrote and Sports Illustrated published "He Does It by the Numbers".[14] This profile of the then-unknown Bill James launched James's career as baseball's foremost analyst.[15]

In 1994, Okrent was filmed for his in-depth knowledge of baseball history for the Ken Burns documentary Baseball.[16] During the nine-part series, a red-sweater-wearing Okrent delivered a detailed analysis of the cultural aspects of the national pastime, including a comparison of the dramatic Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds to the conflict and character development in Russian novels.

The death of print edit

In the late 1990s, as editor of new media at Time Inc., Okrent wrote about the future of magazine publishing.[17] He believed that the advancement of digital technologies would make it easier for people to read newspapers, magazines and books online.[18] In late 1999, Okrent made a prediction about the future of print media in the Hearst New Media Lecture at the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University.[17] He told his audience:

I believe they, and all forms of print, are dead. Finished. Over. Perhaps not in my professional lifetime, but certainly in that of the youngest people in this room. Remove the question mark from the title of this talk. The Death of Print, full stop.[19]

Personal life edit

Okrent has participated in LearnedLeague under the name "OkrentD".[20][21]

Bibliography edit

  • The Ultimate Baseball Book (co-editor, with Harris Lewine) (1979)
  • Nine Innings: The Anatomy of Baseball as Seen Through the Playing of a Single Game (1985)
  • Baseball Anecdotes (co-author, with Steve Wulf) (1987)
  • The Way We Were: New England Then, New England Now (1988)
  • Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center (2003)
  • Public Editor #1 (2006)
  • Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (2010)
  • The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America (2019)

Filmography edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Derry, Jim (March 28, 2011). "Ready for your fantasy baseball draft? Here are some simple rules to live by". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  2. ^ Gross, Terry (May 8, 2019). "Eugenics, anti-immigration laws of the past still resonate today, journalist says". Fresh Air. NPR.
  3. ^ Okrent, Daniel (April 29, 2012). "Kvelling in Their Seats - A first-time producer on what it took to stage Old Jews Telling Jokes". New York.
  4. ^ . Entertainment Weekly. January 7, 2000. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  5. ^ Okrent, Daniel. "Kvelling in Their Seats". New York Magazine. New York Magazine. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  6. ^ . secular.org. Secular Coalition for America. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  7. ^ Pearlman, Jeff (October 11, 2012). . Jeff Pearlman. Jeff Pearlman. Archived from the original on January 6, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  8. ^ "The New Yorker". Issues 1–10. 80. F-R Publishing Corporation. May 24, 2004: 244. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Hoffman, Sam; Spiegelman, Eric (2010). Old Jews Telling Jokes: 5,000 Years of Funny Bits and Not-So-Kosher Laughs (Trade Paperback ed.). Random House Publishing Group. p. 198. ISBN 9780345522450.
  10. ^ Schwarz, Daniel R. (2012). "6 Counter-Reformation or the Way We Are (I)". Endtimes? Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times 1999-2009 (Albany: Excelsior Editions ed.). State University of New York Press. p. 205. ISBN 9781438438962. OCLC 702357541. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame". fsta.org. February 17, 2019.
  12. ^ "30 for 30". ESPN. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  13. ^ Di Fino, Nando (August 3, 2009). "Dan Okrent Invented WHIP Statistic, Fantasy Baseball". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  14. ^ Okrent, Daniel (May 25, 1981). . sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  15. ^ Chafets, Ze'ev (2009). Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame. New York: Bloomsbury USA. p. 44. ISBN 9781596915459. OCLC 305422137.
  16. ^ "Dan Okrent: The Origins of Rotisserie Baseball – The Tenth Inning". pbs.org. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Lieb, Thom (March 2001). "Q. & A.: Breaking News". The Journal of Electronic Publishing. 6 (3). doi:10.3998/3336451.0006.306. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  18. ^ Nayar, Pramod K. (2004). Virtual worlds: culture and politics in the age of cybertechnology. New Delhi: SAGE Publications. p. 117. ISBN 9780761932284.
  19. ^ Okrent, Dan (February 2000). "The Death of Print?". digitaljournalist.org. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  20. ^ "LL Profile: OkrentD". LearnedLeague. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  21. ^ Kushner, Adam B. (August 20, 2014). "The coolest, weirdest Internet community you'll never be able to join". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 24, 2017.

External links edit

Media offices
New title Public Editor for The New York Times
2003–2005 		Succeeded by

February 15, 2024
daniel, okrent, born, april, 1948, american, writer, editor, best, known, having, served, first, public, editor, york, times, newspaper, inventing, rotisserie, league, baseball, writing, several, books, such, last, call, rise, fall, prohibition, which, served,. Daniel Okrent born April 2 1948 is an American writer and editor He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper inventing Rotisserie League Baseball 1 and for writing several books such as Last Call The Rise and Fall of Prohibition which served as a major source for the 2011 Ken Burns Lynn Novick miniseries Prohibition In November 2011 Last Call won the Albert J Beveridge prize awarded by the American Historical Association to the year s best book of American history His most recent book published May 2019 is The Guarded Gate Bigotry Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews Italians and Other European Immigrants Out of America 2 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Okrent s law 4 Baseball 5 The death of print 6 Personal life 7 Bibliography 8 Filmography 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksEarly life and education editBorn to a Jewish family 3 in Detroit Michigan Okrent graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit 4 in 1965 and from the University of Michigan where he worked on the university s student newspaper The Michigan Daily citation needed Career editMost of his career has been spent as an editor at such places as Alfred A Knopf Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Esquire Magazine New England Monthly Life Magazine and Time Inc His book Great Fortune The Epic of Rockefeller Center Viking 2003 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History In October 2003 Okrent was named public editor for The New York Times following the Jayson Blair scandal He held this position until May 2005 Okrent and Peter Gethers having acquired the theatrical rights to the site and name of the web series Old Jews Telling Jokes co wrote and co produced a revue of that name 5 It opened at the Westside Theatre in Manhattan on May 20 2012 From 2003 2008 he was chairman of the Smithsonian s National Portrait Gallery He has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Since 2017 Okrent has been listed on the Advisory Board of the Secular Coalition for America 6 Okrent s law editSee also False balance Journalistic objectivity and View from nowhere Okrent formulated what has become known as Okrent s law in an interview comment he made about his new job It states The pursuit of balance can create imbalance because sometimes something is true referring to the phenomenon of the press providing legitimacy to unsupported fringe viewpoints in an effort to appear even handed 7 8 9 10 Baseball editOkrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball the best known form of fantasy baseball in 1979 The name comes from the fact that he proposed the idea to his friends while dining at La Rotisserie Francaise restaurant on New York City s East 52nd Street Okrent s team in the Rotisserie League was called the Okrent Fenokees a pun on the Okefenokee Swamp He was one of the first two people inducted into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame 11 Okrent was still playing Rotisserie as of 2009 under the team name Dan Druffs Despite having been credited with inventing fantasy baseball he has never been able to win a Rotisserie League His exploits of inventing Rotisserie League Baseball were chronicled in Silly Little Game part of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series in 2010 12 Okrent is also credited with inventing the baseball stat WHIP 13 At the time he referred to it as IPRAT signifying Innings Pitched Ratio In May 1981 Okrent wrote and Sports Illustrated published He Does It by the Numbers 14 This profile of the then unknown Bill James launched James s career as baseball s foremost analyst 15 In 1994 Okrent was filmed for his in depth knowledge of baseball history for the Ken Burns documentary Baseball 16 During the nine part series a red sweater wearing Okrent delivered a detailed analysis of the cultural aspects of the national pastime including a comparison of the dramatic Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds to the conflict and character development in Russian novels The death of print editIn the late 1990s as editor of new media at Time Inc Okrent wrote about the future of magazine publishing 17 He believed that the advancement of digital technologies would make it easier for people to read newspapers magazines and books online 18 In late 1999 Okrent made a prediction about the future of print media in the Hearst New Media Lecture at the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University 17 He told his audience I believe they and all forms of print are dead Finished Over Perhaps not in my professional lifetime but certainly in that of the youngest people in this room Remove the question mark from the title of this talk The Death of Print full stop 19 Personal life editOkrent has participated in LearnedLeague under the name OkrentD 20 21 Bibliography editThe Ultimate Baseball Book co editor with Harris Lewine 1979 Nine Innings The Anatomy of Baseball as Seen Through the Playing of a Single Game 1985 Baseball Anecdotes co author with Steve Wulf 1987 The Way We Were New England Then New England Now 1988 Great Fortune The Epic of Rockefeller Center 2003 Public Editor 1 2006 Last Call The Rise and Fall of Prohibition 2010 The Guarded Gate Bigotry Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews Italians and Other European Immigrants Out of America 2019 Filmography editBaseball 1994 2010 Documentary Directed by Ken Burns Sweet And Lowdown 1999 Role of A J Pickman Comedy Drama Directed by Woody Allen Wordplay 2006 Documentary Directed by Patrick Creadon The Hoax 2007 Role of Real Publisher 1 Comedy Drama Directed by Lasse Hallstrom Silly Little Game 2010 Documentary Directed by Lucas Jansen and Adam Kurland Prohibition 2011 Documentary Directed by Ken BurnsSee also edit nbsp Biography portal nbsp Baseball portal nbsp Journalism portalList of people from Detroit List of people from New York City List of University of Michigan alumniReferences edit Derry Jim March 28 2011 Ready for your fantasy baseball draft Here are some simple rules to live by The Times Picayune Retrieved April 24 2011 Gross Terry May 8 2019 Eugenics anti immigration laws of the past still resonate today journalist says Fresh Air NPR Okrent Daniel April 29 2012 Kvelling in Their Seats A first time producer on what it took to stage Old Jews Telling Jokes New York Getting the Lowdown Entertainment Weekly January 7 2000 Archived from the original on October 22 2012 Retrieved September 21 2011 Okrent Daniel Kvelling in Their Seats New York Magazine New York Magazine Retrieved December 25 2016 Board secular org Secular Coalition for America Archived from the original on January 4 2017 Retrieved October 29 2018 Pearlman Jeff October 11 2012 Daniel Okrent Jeff Pearlman Jeff Pearlman Archived from the original on January 6 2013 Retrieved August 8 2014 The New Yorker Issues 1 10 80 F R Publishing Corporation May 24 2004 244 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Hoffman Sam Spiegelman Eric 2010 Old Jews Telling Jokes 5 000 Years of Funny Bits and Not So Kosher Laughs Trade Paperback ed Random House Publishing Group p 198 ISBN 9780345522450 Schwarz Daniel R 2012 6 Counter Reformation or the Way We Are I Endtimes Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times 1999 2009 Albany Excelsior Editions ed State University of New York Press p 205 ISBN 9781438438962 OCLC 702357541 Retrieved August 8 2014 Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame fsta org February 17 2019 30 for 30 ESPN Retrieved April 27 2015 Di Fino Nando August 3 2009 Dan Okrent Invented WHIP Statistic Fantasy Baseball The Wall Street Journal Retrieved December 24 2017 Okrent Daniel May 25 1981 He Does It By The Numbers sportsillustrated cnn com Sports Illustrated Archived from the original on August 13 2009 Retrieved December 24 2017 Chafets Ze ev 2009 Cooperstown Confidential Heroes Rogues and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame New York Bloomsbury USA p 44 ISBN 9781596915459 OCLC 305422137 Dan Okrent The Origins of Rotisserie Baseball The Tenth Inning pbs org Retrieved December 24 2017 a b Lieb Thom March 2001 Q amp A Breaking News The Journal of Electronic Publishing 6 3 doi 10 3998 3336451 0006 306 Retrieved April 25 2016 Nayar Pramod K 2004 Virtual worlds culture and politics in the age of cybertechnology New Delhi SAGE Publications p 117 ISBN 9780761932284 Okrent Dan February 2000 The Death of Print digitaljournalist org Retrieved April 25 2016 LL Profile OkrentD LearnedLeague Retrieved October 16 2014 Kushner Adam B August 20 2014 The coolest weirdest Internet community you ll never be able to join The Washington Post Retrieved December 24 2017 External links editDaniel Okrent at IMDb Daniel Okrent at the Internet Off Broadway Database Roberts Russ June 7 2010 Okrent on Prohibition and His Book Last Call EconTalk Library of Economics and Liberty Appearances on C SPANMedia officesNew title Public Editor for The New York Times2003 2005 Succeeded byByron Calame Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Daniel Okrent amp oldid 1199197950, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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