Fact Man
Posted by: Mary Ellen
I have on my desk a copy of the eighth edition of Facts About the Presidents, one of those reference standards that belong in almost every library collection. The first seven editions were edited by Joseph Nathan Kane who, though he died in 2002 (at the age of 103), is still credited as the editor. That’s because Kane, like Bartlett (of the quotations) and Roget (of the thesaurus), has left the world of reference several enduring gifts.
Kane’s first book, and perhaps the one for which he is best known, is Famous First Facts. When he set out to document “firsts,” staff at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian told him it couldn’t be done because of the difficulty of substantiating “firsts” with any certainty. Nonetheless, Kane’s dogged pursuit resulted in a collection of 3,000 facts, every one of them meticulously documented. Famous First Facts was rejected by 11 other publishers before it was published by H. W. Wilson in 1933. The New York Times said at the time, ”Here is a book more fascinating, if that is possible, than the dictionary.” Famous First Facts is now in its sixth edition.
A weekly radio program called Famous First Facts was broadcast from August, 1938 to July, 1939, with Kane as the host. Later, he supplied many of the questions for radio and television quiz shows like The $64,000 Question and Double or Nothing. He supplied all of the questions for Break the Bank, which aired on radio and then televison for more than 10 years. He was also frequently called on for answers by the White House.
So here’s to you, Mr. Kane, and to others whose passion for facts has made the librarian’s job much easier over the years. You can find a biography of Kane on the H. W. Wilson Web site.
June 29th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Oh my talk about memories! Famous First Facts had to be the first reference book I examined in my first reference materials class many many years ago. What a terrific post about Mr. Kane. A welcome addition to the Booklist fold!