An 18-year-old sailor from Syracuse who saw first-hand what an atomic bomb can do to a city spent his life trying to get across a simple truth.
Sean Kirst
Sean Kirst is a columnist with The Central Current. He has been an Upstate journalist for more than 50 years. He held his first reporting job as a teenager and worked for newspapers in Dunkirk, Niagara Falls, Rochester and Syracuse, where he spent 27 years before joining the Buffalo News in 2016.
He is the recipient of many national and state journalism awards, including the Ernie Pyle Award, given annually to one American journalist for writing about the dreams and struggles of everyday people. He received the national excellence in column writing award from the Society for Professional Journalists, Capitolbeat's top national award for column writing about state government and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence national media award. Between 2016 and 2025, in Buffalo, he received the New York News Publishers Association distinguished column writing award eight times, often in its largest circulation category.
Kirst, who serves as a journalist-in-residence at Le Moyne College, was named a civic Wisdom Keeper by FOCUS Greater Syracuse and his name was placed on a Wall of Distinction by the Syracuse Press Club for lifetime achievement in journalism. Kirst has been honored by the federal Department of Justice for sensitivity to victims of violent crime. He has received honorary degrees from Le Moyne and Onondaga Community College, and was honored by SUNY Fredonia in 2022 for outstanding achievement by alumni. He is a recipient of the Onondaga Historical Association medal, the OHA's highest award for preserving and interpreting local heritage.
Kirst, a TedX speaker, has given many talks about the importance of storytelling in journalism, especially in a digital age, and he is the author of three books: The Ashes of Lou Gehrig, Moonfixer, and The Soul of Central New York, published in 2016, the fastest-selling book in the more-than-80-year history of the Syracuse University Press. The England-based Tolkien Society credits Kirst with serving as founder of international Tolkien Reading Day, now celebrated around the world.
Kirst and his wife Nora, a retired city schoolteacher, have three grown children: Sarah, Seamus and Liam.
Sean can be reached at skirst@centralcurrent.org
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Sean Kirst: 50 years after historic Eucharist, remembering how Rev. Betty Bone Schiess shattered ‘stained glass ceiling’
Thousands of women today serve as bishops or priests in the Episcopal Church. Getting there took the barrier-busting courage of Rev. Betty Bone Schiess, and her contemporaries.
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Sean Kirst: For his 100th birthday, ‘ray of sunshine’ Bob Menotti still spreads light, sign by sign
Family and friends gathered this weekend to celebrate a century of rich achievement for Bob Menotti, a monumental figure in the Syracuse Deaf community.
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Sean Kirst: Artist builds civic plea into last summer for one big Syracuse couch, at Erie and McBride
A high-profile piece of Syracuse public art — in one climactic statement before it’s moved for Interstate 81 construction — will soon honor two slain officers, first responders and young victims of violence.
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Sean Kirst: At a sacred place, ‘mindblowing’ tale of the nesting eagles of Onondaga Lake
An historic nest of bald eagles near Onondaga Lake attracts a loyal group of skilled photographers, who waited months to see the young eagles take flight.
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Sean Kirst: For John Kucko, ‘water in motion,’ Upstate beauty and what he was born to do
Kucko, a former sportscaster in Rochester, has become a digital force by sharing the region’s natural beauty.
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Sean Kirst: The passing of Willowbrook survivor Henry Wesley, who championed “full humanity” of Americans with disabilities
Wesley’s life is a reminder — as cuts to Medicaid and the federal safety net loom — about the fragility of his and others’ hard-earned chance at independent living.
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Sean Kirst: A secret donor made sure basketball’s game-changing shot clock is monumental, in Syracuse
John Marsellus died at 86 last month. Marsellus, whose family ran the renowned Marsellus Casket Co., made possible a monument to basketball’s shot clock. The shot clock was created in Syracuse.
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Sean Kirst: After slaying, new parks commissioner tells her lifeguards, ‘You need to cry, you cry.’
In the face of a difficult week, Commissioner Syeisha Byrd, lifeguards and others tried to create the best atmosphere the parks can provide: a quiet landscape where ‘kids are just being kids.’
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Sean Kirst: Close as twins, one lost at war, bond of North Side brothers deserves honor from their city
The once inseparable Spadaro brothers left school out of necessity in their early teenage years. Jimmy died at Normandy in World War II while Sam still mourns his brother 80 years after Jimmy’s death.