Quin Ryan

Quin Augustus Ryan

• School Northwestern University
• High School Loyola Academy

• Born November 17, 1898 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died October 7, 1978 in Chicago, IL USA

Biographical Information

Quin Ryan was one of the most famous broadcasters of his time, working for radio station WGN in Chicago, IL. The son of a successful attorney, he was active in theater at Northwestern University and got his first job as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where he covered a variety of subjects including sports, then moved to the pioneering radio station launched by the newspaper in 1923.

He was the first announcer for a Chicago Cubs game to go live over the air, on April 14, 1925. Given the absence of a broadcasting booth at Wrigley Field at the time, he worked from a seat on top of the grandstand. He teamed with Graham McNamee on nation World Series broadcasts that year. His work was not limited to baseball: he also broadcast other major sporting events such as the Kentucky Derby, the Indianapolis 500, boxing matches and college football games, and newsworthy events such as the infamous "Scopes Monkey Trial" which also took place in 1925, and the 1928 Democratic and Republican national conventions. He also did programming aimed at children under the name "Uncle Quin". In most of these assignments, he was an innovator, as there was no precedent about how a radio announcer should cover such events; as a result, he became a role model for future announcers. He rose to the position of manager of WGN-Radio in 1931. He left the position in 1941 to become a free-lance writer and radio programming adviser.

Related Sites

• Biography
• Biography on a genealogy blog