Nat Hentoff facts for kids

Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American writer, historian, and music critic. He was known for writing about jazz and country music. He also wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines.

Hentoff was a columnist for The Village Voice for over 50 years, from 1958 to 2009. He also wrote for The Wall Street Journal until he passed away. A big part of his work was defending the First Amendment. This part of the U.S. Constitution protects important rights like freedom of speech and the press. He strongly believed in these freedoms.

He also wrote for many other well-known publications. These included Down Beat, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.

Growing Up in Boston

Hentoff was born on June 10, 1925, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, Simon and Lena, were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Nat was their first child.

As a teenager, Hentoff went to Boston Latin School. He also worked for Frances Sweeney at the Boston City Reporter. Sweeney was a big influence on him. Hentoff even dedicated his book, Boston Boy, to her.

When he was young, he played the soprano saxophone and clarinet. He became very interested in jazz music after hearing Artie Shaw play.

He studied at Northeastern University and earned his degree in 1946. Later, he also studied at Harvard University and Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

A Career in Writing and Music

Hentoff started his career in radio. He hosted a weekly jazz show on a Boston radio station called WMEX in the 1940s. He also hosted other music shows. In the early 1950s, he continued to host jazz programs. He would broadcast live from famous Boston jazz clubs like the Savoy and Storyville.

In 1952, Hentoff began writing for Down Beat magazine. This magazine was all about jazz music. He moved to New York City to become the magazine's editor there. He later said he was fired in 1957 because he tried to hire an African-American writer.

Hentoff wrote many books about jazz and politics. In 1955, he co-wrote Hear Me Talkin' to Ya with Nat Shapiro. This book shared the stories of jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. He also helped start The Jazz Review magazine in 1958.

From 1958 to 2009, he wrote weekly articles for The Village Voice. These articles covered topics like education, civil liberties (people's rights), politics, and capital punishment. He also wrote for The New Yorker and The Washington Post. Hentoff worked with the Jazz Foundation of America. This group helps jazz and blues musicians who need support. He wrote many articles to help these musicians.

In 2009, The Village Voice stopped publishing his columns. After that, he joined the Cato Institute. This is a group that studies public policy. He continued to write for The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

In 2013, a movie was made about Nat Hentoff's life. It was called The Pleasures of Being Out of Step. The film showed his career in jazz and how he fought for the First Amendment.

Awards and Special Honors

Nat Hentoff received many awards for his work.

• In 1972, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow. This is a special award for people who have done great work in arts, humanities, and sciences.
• He won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award in 1980. This was for his articles about law and justice.
• In 1983, he received the Imroth Award for Intellectual Freedom. This award is given by the American Library Association.
• He received an honorary degree from Northeastern University in 1985.
• In 1995, he won the National Press Foundation's Award for his lifetime contributions to journalism.
• In 2004, he was named one of the six NEA Jazz Masters. This is a very high honor for jazz musicians and people who support jazz. He was the first non-musician to win this award.
• The same year, his old school, Boston Latin School, honored him as their alumnus of the year.

About His Life

Hentoff grew up attending an Orthodox synagogue in Boston. He remembered going around the city with his father during the High Holidays. They would listen to different cantors (singers in a synagogue) and compare their performances. He collected recordings of cantors.

Later in life, Hentoff became an atheist. He jokingly called himself a "member of the Proud and Ancient Order of Stiff-Necked Jewish Atheists".

Nat Hentoff was married three times. He had four children. His daughter, Jessica Hentoff, started Circus Harmony. This is a non-profit circus school in St. Louis, Missouri.

He passed away peacefully at his home in Manhattan on January 7, 2017. He was 91 years old.

Books by Nat Hentoff

Non-fiction Books

• Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men who Made it, with Nat Shapiro. (1955)
• The Jazz Makers, with Nat Shapiro. (1957)
• The Jazz Life. (1961)
• Peace Agitator: The Story of A. J. Muste. (1963)
• The New Equality. (1964)
• Our Children Are Dying (with John Holt). (1967)
• Journey into Jazz. (1971)
• Jazz Is. (1976)
• The First Freedom: The Tumultuous History of Free Speech in America. (1980)
• American Heroes: In and Out of School. (1987)
• Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other. (1993)
• Listen to the Stories: Nat Hentoff on Jazz and Country Music. (1995)
• Living the Bill of Rights: How to Be an Authentic American. (1999)
• The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance. (2004)
• American Music Is. (2004)

Novels

• Jazz Country. (1965)
• Call the Keeper. (1966)
• Onwards! (1968)
• I'm Really Dragged But Nothing Gets Me Down (1968)
• This School is Driving Me Crazy. (1976)
• Does This School Have Capital Punishment? (1982)
• Blues for Charlie Darwin. (1982)
• The Day They Came To Arrest The Book. (1983)

Memoirs (His Own Story)

• Boston Boy: Growing Up With Jazz and Other Rebellious Passions. (1986)
• Speaking Freely: A Memoir. (1997)

Collections of His Writings

• The Nat Hentoff Reader. (2001)

Books He Edited

• Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz by the Men Who Made It (with Nat Shapiro). (1955)
• Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism. (1969)
• Jazz: New Perspectives on the History of Jazz by Twelve of the World's Foremost Jazz Critics and Scholars. (with Albert McCarthy) (1975)

See also

In Spanish: Nat Hentoff para niños