Jim Bellows (November 12, 1922 – March 6, 2009) was an American journalist of the 20th century. Bellows has been credited with the inspiration and nurture of many leading writers of the New Journalism during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Bellows was born to a successful Detroit salesman and his family in 1922. While he was a child, his parents moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area. Following a common practice of families with "aspirations", and with financial assistance from an aunt, he was sent at 13 years of age to attend South Kent School — a private college-preparatory boarding school for boys in South Kent, Connecticut, graduating in 1940. "We were not cradled through those years, and it (South Kent) was a wonderful place to build character." The 1940 yearbook shows his nickname as "Maggot", a fond reference to his 5'0" stature, to which he owed his success as coxwain for the SKS crew." Bellows went on to attend Kenyon College, before serving as a Navy aviator, training to fly the F6F "Hellcat" in World War II. Although he tried to accelerate his training, he didn't ship out until after the war, when he flew from a carrier based near Guam and Saipan. He returned to Kenyon after his service, and graduated in 1947 with a B.A. in philosophy. Editorships Among the organizations Bellows served, Bellows had editorial positions at: city editor of the Columbus Ledger (1947–1950) started as a cub (rookie) reporter, received national attentionand a promotion to city editorafter reporting on his being assaulted by local (Georgia) members of the Ku Klux Klan; The Atlanta Journal (1950–1957) Detroit Free Press (1957–1959) his hometown paper The Miami News (1959–1960) editor of the New York Herald Tribune (1961–1966) "We couldn't compete with the resources of the Times; we had to establish a niche for ourselves. The answer was to rediscover New York."; associate editor of the Los Angeles Times (1967–1974) he described the Times as "the velvet coffin" editor of The Washington Star (1975–1978) editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner (1978–1981) managing editor of Entertainment Tonight (1981–1983) executive editor of ABC World News Tonight (1983–1986) Time and again, Bellows served as editor of underdog, "second" newspapers in large cities. He established a reputation as an innovator whose style of refined sensationalism challenged the leading rival newspapers—namely, The Washington Post and The New York Times. His eloquent, often humorous,