Jonathan Kay

Jonathan Kay

Jonathan Hillel Kay (born September 18, 1968) is Comment Pages Editor for the Toronto-based Canadian daily newspaper National Post, a columnist for the Post op-ed page, a blogger for the Post web site, a book author and editor, and a public speaker. He is also a regular contributor to Commentary Magazine^[1] and the New York Post. His freelance articles have been published in a variety of US publications including Newsweek,^[2] The New Yorker,^[3] Salon.com,^[4] The New Republic,^[5] Harper's Magazine,^[6] the Los Angeles Times,^[7] The Weekly Standard,^[8] The Literary Review of Canada,^[9] The National Interest^[10] and The New York Times.^[11]

Early life and career

Jonathan Kay was born and raised in Montreal. His mother is the socially conservative newspaper columnist Barbara Kay. He attended Selwyn House School and Marianopolis College before obtaining a BEng and a MEng^[12] in metallurgical engineering from McGill University and a law degree from Yale Law School. He is a member of the New York bar. After practicing as a tax lawyer in New York City, Kay moved to Toronto, where, in 1998, he became a founding member of the National Post editorial board. Kay describes himself as an avid tennis enthusiast, and sometimes has incorporated his passion for the sport into his journalism.^[13]

Apart from his editorial work, Kay has also written two non-fiction books. In 2007, Kay co-authored The Volunteer, a biography of Mossad officer Michael Ross. In May, 2011, HarperCollins published Kay's second book, Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground (ISBN 978-0-06-200481-9).^[14] The book reflects Kay's interest in the psychology of conspiracy theorists, a subject he often has explored in his National Post columns.^[15]

Reactions to Kay's writings

Kay often endorses views regarded as conservative, particularly on the subjects of Israel,^[16] political correctness^[17] and policy toward North American Aboriginals.^[18] However, he also has dissented from conservatives on a variety of issues. In recent years, for example, he has written articles raising awareness about income inequality,^[19] and questioning the conduct of the Iraq War.^[20] Kay also supports same-sex marriage. In 2010, Kay argued that conservatives are wrong to continue challenging the majority scientific view on global warming.^[21] In response, Financial Post columnist Terence Corcoran, a noted climate-change skeptic, argued that Kay's support of the anthropogenic climate change theory was based on unproven environmentalist dogmas.^[22]

Kay's book critical of the claims made by the 9/11 Truth Movement, Among the Truthers, generally received positive reviews in major media outlets, such as The New York Times,^[23] The Wall Street Journal,^[24] and The Economist.^[24]

Published books

• The Volunteer: A Canadian's Secret Life in the Mossad, by Michael Ross and Jonathan Kay, Skyhorse Publishing (2007), ISBN 978-0-7710-1740-7
• Among the Truthers, by Jonathan Kay, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (May 10, 2011), ISBN 978-1-55468-630-8

Awards and recognition

In 2002, he was awarded Canada's National Newspaper Award for Critical Writing. In 2004, he was awarded a National Newspaper Award for Editorial Writing. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.^[25]

External links

• Jonathan Kay's page at the National Post.
• Website for the book Among the Truthers.

References