Host Nick Clooney

Where the River Bends: A History of Northern Kentucky is narrated by a familiar voice around the region: Cincinnati Post columnist, former congressional candidate, television journalist, and TV host Nick Clooney—father of movie star George and brother of singer Rosemary.

A native of Maysville in Kentucky’s Mason County, Clooney is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. He began his broadcasting career in radio while still in high school, then served the American Forces Network in Germany. His career has taken him from television and radio in Lexington, KY to news anchor jobs in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles and now to the Post, where he has written three columns a week since 1989. He is the author of two books, The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen and a collection of his columns. Clooney’s résumé also includes hosting and serving as writer and researcher for the American Movie Classics cable channel and a syndicated radio program.

In 2004, Clooney ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, challenging Republican Geoff Davis. He lost the highly competitive race, but did garner 44 percent of the vote to Davis’ 54 percent in predominantly conservative Northern Kentucky.

Son George has credited his father’s journalism career and dinner-table conversations about broadcasting legend Edward R. Murrow as his inspiration for writing and producing his Academy Award-nominated film about Murrow, Good Night, and Good Luck. The father-son duo is also active in efforts to bring worldwide attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Nick Clooney talked about his career and his small-town upbringing in a program from KET’s One to One series taped in 2006.