Nick Kenny (poet)

Nicholas Aloysius Kenny (February 3, 1895 in Astoria, New York - December 1, 1975 in Sarasota, Florida) was a syndicated newspaper columnist, a song lyricist and a poet who wrote light verse in the Edgar Guest tradition.

Born in Queens, Kenny attended high school for only three months before joining the Navy (1911–18), serving on the USS Arizona, followed by a tour of duty in the Merchant Marine (1918–20). He continued his education with extensive reading in ships' libraries. He began writing poetry but did not sign his poems until one was published in Arthur Brisbane's column.

While a sportswriter and rewrite man at the Bayonne Times (1920–23), he wrote his first column, "Getting an Earful" (later collected in a 1932 book). After a brief period at the Boston American (1923–24), Kenny moved on to the New York Journal (1924–27) and the New York Daily News (1927–30). He was the radio editor at the New York Daily Mirror, and in 1930, he began writing "Nick Kenny Speaking," a column combining verse, jokes and observational humor with his commentary on current radio programs. The popularity of the column kept him at the New York Daily Mirror until that paper shut down in 1963. At that point, he moved to Sarasota, Florida where he wrote a column for the Sarasota Herald Tribune until his death.

When the USS Arizona went down at Pearl Harbor, one of Kenny's poems was on the ship's bulletin board. Kenny is mainly remembered today as the lyricist of the popular song standard, "Love Letters in the Sand", a 1957 gold record hit for Pat Boone. Kenny's first big success, "Gold Mine in the Sky," inspired the Gene Autry movie, Gold Mine in the Sky (1938) and enabled Kenny and his brother Charles to launch their own music firm, Gold Mine in the Sky Publishing Company. His songs included "Gone Fishin'" and "Scattered Toys" recorded by The Three Suns, which has lyrics somewhat similar to one of his "Patty Poems".

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