Hugh Edmund Keough
Hugh Edmund Keough was a notable Canadian sportswriter born on January 24, 1864, in Hamilton, Ontario. He began his journalism career at 17 with the Hamilton Spectator and worked for various newspapers across the United States, including the Chicago Times and the Chicago Tribune. Keough is particularly recognized for his columns that brought a unique blend of wit and reflection to sportswriting. His work, such as "Sidelights on Sports" and "In the Wake of the News," showcased his insightful commentary on sports and highlighted issues like hypocrisy in the industry and the growing influence of money in baseball.
Keough was an advocate for decency in sports, notably expressing disapproval of the racist undertones surrounding boxing matches, particularly the billing of Jim Jeffries as "The Great White Hope." His writing also included poetry, often paying tribute to friends who had passed away, reflecting his deep loyalty and emotional sensitivity. He passed away on June 9, 1912, and his legacy was honored posthumously through a compilation of his writings, showcasing his contributions to the field of sports journalism.
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Hugh Edmund Keough
Journalist
- Born: January 24, 1864
- Birthplace: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Died: June 9, 1912
Biography
Hugh Edmund Keough’s newspaper columns brought a new level of reflection and wit to sportswriting. Keough was born on January 24, 1864, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He began his newspaper career at the age of seventeen with a job at the Hamilton Spectator.
Most of his work as sportswriter is associated with Chicago newspapers. He worked at the Chicago Times from 1891 to 1894 and at the Chicago Tribune, where he was a sportswriter and columnist, from 1905 to 1912. In the interim and before he came to Chicago, he moved around the United States, working for newspapers in Indianapolis; Logansport, Indiana; San Francisco, and New Orleans. For two years beginning in 1898, he was a racetrack official in the Midwest, but he returned to journalism when he assumed the position of managing editor of the Lake County Times in Hammond, Indiana, in 1900.
Before he joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune, Keough contributed a regular column to the newspaper, “Sidelights on Sports,” and a Sunday column, “Some Offside Plays.” The popularity of these columns led the Tribune to hire him as a permanent sportswriter. At the Tribune, Keough published a column, “In the Wake of the News,” using his initials, Hek, as his byline. The column contained insightful reflections on the state of sports in the United States.
Keough’s column sometimes displayed a caustic wit. He was impatient with hypocrites or any form of dishonesty, and he supported decency and good nature wherever he might find these qualities. In 1910, boxer Jim Jeffries returned to the ring after giving up his heavyweight champion title five years earlier. Jeffries was billed as “The Great White Hope” in a match against African American boxer Jack Johnson. Keough expressed his disapproval of Jeffries’s decision to use this racist billing, and he described his admiration for Johnson, who defeated Jeffries in the match. In other columns, Keough warned of the trend toward corruption in baseball as money was becoming increasingly important to players and owners.
Keough was always a loyal friend. His columns featured his poetry as well as his prose, and some of his best poems were epitaphs for dear and departed friends. An example is the piece he wrote in memory of his friend, Charles F. Spalding, which ends with the lines: “Let grief reign where laughter was,/ And let us cease to doubt/ That friendship lives beyond the grave—/ A good old pal’s gone out.”
Keough died on June 9, 1912. After his death, sportswriter Hugh Fullerton compiled a collection of his columns, “By Hek” in the Wake of the News: A Collection of the Writings of the Late Hugh Edmund Keough. Fullerton wrote an introduction to the book in which he quoted the last four lines of Keough’s poem about Spalding.