John Feinstein

John Feinstein (/ˈ f aɪ n s t iː n / FYNE -steen; July 28, 1955 – March 13, 2025) was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.

Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1955. His father was heavily involved in the arts, having been the General Manager of the Washington National Opera from 1980 to 1995 as well as the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Feinstein attended Duke University and graduated in 1977. John attended The McBurney School thru 9th grade where he was a standout swimmer and basketball player. In 10th grade John transferred to Columbia Grammar where he was a standout swimmer.

After a marriage to Mary Clare Gibbons ended in divorce, Feinstein married Christine Bauch in 2010. He had two children from his first marriage and one from his second.

Feinstein died from an apparent heart attack at his brother’s home in McLean, Virginia, on March 13, 2025, at the age of 69.

Feinstein wrote 44 books. His book A Season on the Brink chronicles a year in the life of the Indiana University basketball team and its coach, Bobby Knight. In 1995, he published A Good Walk Spoiled, about a year on the PGA Tour as told through the stories of 17 players.

Feinstein also wrote a sports-mystery series for young adults in which main characters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are reporting on major sporting events including the Final Four, US Open Tennis Championships, Super Bowl, World Series, the Army–Navy Game, and the Summer Olympics.

A Season on the Brink was adapted to film with an ESPN production of the same title. It starred Brian Dennehy in the role of Bobby Knight. During its original airing on ESPN on March 10, 2002, the film was presented uncensored for profanity, while a censored version was simulcast on ESPN2. It released to DVD later in 2002.

Feinstein's book Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story was released in 2004. It is about the life and final days of Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, who was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). Feinstein and long-time friend Terry Hanson engaged the William Morris Agency and commissioned a screenplay in conjunction with Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's production company, LivePlanet. In 2010, Caddy for Life was produced in documentary format for the Golf Channel.

On March 8, 2012, Feinstein joined SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio channel, teaming up with Bruce Murray for the sports talk show, Beyond the Brink, which aired between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET. However, Feinstein left the show by the fall of 2012, as he was offered a slot of his own show on the brand new CBS Sports Radio between 9 AM to 12 noon ET. CBS Sports Radio began 24/7 all sports talk on January 2, 2013. On November 14, 2014, during an interview on a Washington, D.C. radio program, he announced that he had been fired by CBS from his daily radio show.

He was also a regular on-air commentator for a number of other television and radio shows, including:

Print media

Feinstein's last column was published in The Washington Post on the day of his death, March 13, 2025; he had completed it the day before.