John S. Knight
1894 - 1981
Adjacent to this park is the building of the Lexington Herald-Leader, one of the large Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers. Both Messrs. Knight and Ridder were longtime owners and breeders of racehorses. John S. Knight started with the Akron Beacon Journal after World War I and built a chain of papers including such major markets as Miami, Detroit, and Chicago. He personally authored a series that won one of his papers' twenty-six Pulitzer Prizes. He and Marshall Field began a racing partnership named Fourth Estate Stable, which Knight later carried on by himself. His best horses also had journalistic names, such as War Censor, Editorialist, Copy Chief, and Journalist. His son, Landon Knight, owned the 1977 English Derby winner, Benny the Dip, which was then sent to stud at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.
In 1974, Knight Newspapers merged with Ridder Publications, which had properties in New York, Minnesota, and California. Bernard J. Ridder (1913-1983) was a third-generation newspaperman who joined his family firm after World War II. He bought Murrieta Stud in Southern California, and raced the champion mare Cascapedia and the prominent Flying Paster.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. 60) and Midland Avenue (U.S. 60), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
