Kevin Baker (born 1958) is an American novelist and journalist. He was born in Englewood, New Jersey, and grew up in New Jersey and Rockport, Massachusetts.
As a youth he worked on the Gloucester Daily Times, covering school-boy sports, as well as local town meetings and other civic affairs. He graduated from Columbia University, where he majored in political science, in 1980.
Baker is the author of the City of Fire trilogy, published by HarperCollins, which consists of the following historical novels: Dreamland (1998); the bestselling Paradise Alley (2002); and Strivers Row (2006). The middle volume of the trilogy won the 2003 James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction and the American Book Award.
Baker wrote a contemporary baseball novel called Sometimes You See it Coming (1993), and a graphic novel called Luna Park (2009). He was chief historical researcher on Harold Evans’s illustrated history of the United States, The American Century. He is the author of America: The Story of Us (2010) and also wrote the new final chapter for the reissue of Baseball, the companion book to Ken Burns' 10-part film, Baseball, which has aired on public television.
Kevin Baker may refer to:
Kevin Baker (born June 15, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently an unrestricted free agent who last played for the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 7th round (193rd overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
Baker played juniors for a season with the Trenton Sting of the OPJHL and three seasons with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL. In 2000, he turned professional with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. 2001-02 saw him bouncing between the AHL and the ECHL. Between 2002 and 2006, he attended Acadia University, where he played 3 seasons (in 2002-03, he sat out the mandatory season after turning professional). Since college, he has bounced between various leagues, spending more time in the ECHL and AHL, and 2 seasons in Europe, one in Germany playing for the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the 2. Bundesliga and one in Italy playing for Ritten Sport of the Serie A.
On July 1, 2014, he re-signed for a second full season with the Arizona Sundogs of the Central Hockey League. However with the Sundogs folding and the discontinuance of the CHL, Baker signed with the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL.