John Keasler

Who is John Keasler?

John Keasler was an American newspaper columnist for The Miami News, which folded in 1988.

Keasler grew up in Plant City, Florida, which is 26 miles east of Tampa. He got his start in journalism with a newsletter he penned while serving in World War II. He parlayed the newsletter into a job with the Plant City Courier. From there, he moved on to the larger Tampa Tribune and then to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch before settling in for decades at The Miami News. While at the Post-Dispatch, Keasler was one of the founders in 1956 of the Catfish Club, which eventually became the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis.

During his 30-year career, Keasler covered both the Kennedy assassination and the 1969 moon landing. Keasler's 7,000 mostly humorous columns about South Florida life were a great favorite. Some of them were collected into books, although Keasler also wrote a novel. Keasler also enjoyed playing pranks on his fellow reporters, including some at the rival Miami Herald. He and cartoonist Don Wright, who won two Pulitzer Prizes while at The Miami News, in particular played tricks on one another.