Simon & Schuster, was an in-depth chronicle of the seminal development and pioneers of the sport. A New York Times review of the latter book referred to Thorn as "a researcher of colossal diligence." Thorn is also the co-author with Pete Palmer and Bob Carroll of The Hidden Game of Football and with them co-editors of Total Football. His book New York 400, a graphic history of the city timed for its quadricentennial, created with the Museum of the City of New York and Running Press, was published in September 2009. Thorn is a columnist for Voices, the publication of the New York Folklore Society. He founded Total Sports Publishing and served as its publisher from 1998–2002. Role as historian Thorn served as the senior creative consultant for the 1994 Ken Burns documentary Baseball. In 2004, Thorn discovered documentation tracing the origins of baseball in America to 1791 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He has also attempted to shed light on the contributions of 19th century pioneers of the game, while debunking common misconceptions. "I don't want anyone to think of me as a crusader on behalf of causes," he wrote. "I'm only interested in setting the story straight, and in recognizing other stories for what they are, some of which are legend." Despite the claims of various localities to being the "birthplace of baseball," Thorn simply follows facts. "Abner Doubleday, Santa Claus, and Dracula," he notes, "are equally mythic figures." In June 2006, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) bestowed on Thorn its highest accolade, the Bob Davids Award. The award honors those whose contributions to SABR and baseball reflect the ingenuity, integrity, and self-sacrifice of the late founder and past president of SABR, L. Robert "Bob" Davids. On March 1, 2011, John Thorn was named Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball, succeeding the late Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who served from 1999 until his death in 2008. Thorn played an important role in the retroactive recategorization of the defunct Negro leagues, which existed during the segregation of baseball, as major leagues. References External links Our Game, Thorn's official MLB-hosted baseball blog Thorn family blog (March 2005–May 2009), Thornpricks John Thorn appearances in TV and film at Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com) John Thorn Keynote Speech at Society for American Baseball Research annual conference, Minneapolis MN, June 29, 2012 1947 births Living people Writers