The Resume

(December 16, 1917-May 5, 1997)
Born in Baltimore, Maryland
Birth name was James Murray Kempton
Columnist for the New York Post and Newsday
Editor of the New Republic (1963-69)
Regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, Esquire, and National Review

Why he might be annoying:

He joined the Communist Youth League in college.
He said about the New York Post, 'It was the kind of paper I'd rather read than write for.'
A former New York Post editor noted about his frequent threats to quit, 'I used to keep a file of his resignations, but I had to throw it out because it took up too much room.'
Tom Wolfe wrote, 'Kempton used so many elegant British double and triple negatives, half the time you couldn't figure out what he was saying.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He was a copy boy for H.L. Mencken.
He served with the Air Force in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II.
His son died in a car accident (1971).
He won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1985).
He observed, 'If you talk to gangsters long enough, you'll find out they're just as bad as respectable people.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Brothers and Sisters, I Have None
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 86]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [December] (Ranked: 12161917)
• I Am From Baltimore
• I Attended Johns Hopkins University
• I Died in 1997 (Ranked: 79)
• I Have Pancreatic Cancer
• I Named My Kid After Myself
• I Outlived My Child
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• Look at My Typewriter
• Male Pipe Smokers
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Profiles 54001-54250 (Ranked: 54099)
• Served in World War II

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying