Ellis Henican is an American columnist at Newsday and AM New York as well as a political analyst on the Fox News Channel. He hosts a nationally syndicated weekend show on Talk Radio Network and is the voice of "Stormy" on the Cartoon Network series Sealab 2021. He is the co-author of the New York Times Bestseller The Party's Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.
Biography
Born in Virginia, Henican was reared in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father, C. Ellis Henican, Jr., a Tulane University Law School graduate, practiced law for 57 years until his death at the age of 81. Henican's mother was the former Patricia McGraw. One of his aunts is Peggy Henican Wilson, a Republican former member of the New Orleans City Council. Henican earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Hampshire College. He has a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he won the top student prize, the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. He began his career as a reporter at The Kentucky Post and the Albany Knickerbockers News. Henican wrote Newsdays subway column. In 1992, he was part of the Newsday staff when they received a Pulitzer Prize for spot reporting for their coverage of the 14th Street – Union Square train wreck. In recent years, Henican has built a strong presence on television and radio, appearing on most of the major broadcast and cable networks. He has appeared on Fox News Channel, since 1999, where he has made appearances on The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News Watch, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld and other programs. He was also involved in coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign, the War in Iraq, and other major stories. Henican's early television experience included co-hosting a weekly transit program on NY1, New York's all-news channel. His weekly "Culture Clash" segments—an irreverent look at television, movies and pop-culture trends – were a popular daytime feature on the USA Network. Henican's weekend radio program, The Ellis Henican Show, is syndicated to stations across the country by Talk Radio Network. Henican has also guest-hosted for Alan Colmes, Michael Savage, Bob Grant and Jerry Doyle. He also co-hosts Henican & White on WOR in New York, and has a news-driven weekend show on WBBR. In 2010, Henican authored Home Team with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. It was a New York Times Best Seller recounting the story of post-Katrina New Orleans and the Saints' Super Bowl championship that year. In 2011, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Henican wrote another bestseller, In the Blink of An Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything with driver Michael Waltrip. Henican has ghost-written two books for Simon & Schuster—an inside account of the nation's largest drug-treatment program and a best-selling motivational business book. His articles have been published in various national magazines, including The New Republic, Cosmopolitan and Penthouse. Henican also provided the voice for Derek "Stormy" Waters on the popular Cartoon Network series, Sealab 2021. A special feature called "Stormy Waters, Pundit" on the Sealab 2021 Season 3 DVD animates Henican's political commentary with visuals of Stormy Waters in and around Sealab. Henican also lent his voice to pundit Harper Ellis on Frisky Dingo, which was made by the creators of Sealab 2021. Henican lives in the Tribeca area of downtown New York City.
Awards
Recipient of the Meyer Berger award for distinguished writing about New York City