Author: John Manasso

John Manasso was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1972 to native New Yorker parents. Five years later, his family moved to Massachusetts, but never gave up its sports-rooting allegiances. As a result, John grew up a fan of the Yankees, Giants, Rangers and Knicks, like his father did, only in hostile territory. In some ways, he grew up the anti-New Englander: his parents couldn’t ski or skate like his neighbors and he passionately detested the Red Sox. So when the ponds froze over in winter and his friends laced up their skates to play hockey, he could only wait for the next day in the hope they would opt to play in the street. John went to American University in Washington, D.C., graduating with degrees in print journalism and history. His first job was taking high school box scores at The Washington Post. He worked at The Post for three years, covering high school sports, Navy and Georgia Mason University basketball and working on the copy desk. In 1997, he left for a two-year internship with the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1999, he joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and began covering the Atlanta Thrashers in 2003. In 2007, he left for the Atlanta Business Chronicle, a tenure that lasted until April 2009. He is the author of “A Season of Loss,” a book about the death of Thrashers player Dan Snyder and his family’s journey through grief. He and his wife Christie have two children, Joey, 7, and Samantha, 4.