Writer

Kenneth Best

Ken Best served as editor of UCONN Magazine for 10 years. He is a co-host of the UConn 360 Podcast. He previously covered news and sports in Connecticut for The New York Times, edited the Weekend section for the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time, wrote arts and culture stories syndicated by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service and was the media coordinator for Yale-New Haven Hospital. During the summer of 2015 he hosted “Walking a Blues Road,” a weekly program on WHUS in Storrs based on the holdings of the Samuel and Ann Charters Archives of Blues and Vernacular African-American Musical Culture at UConn’s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. He is the author of Eight Days a Week: An Illustrated Record of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Pomegranate Books).

Email: Kenneth.Best@uconn.edu

Author Archive

Coach Dan Hurley walks through a handshake line before a game at

Dan Hurley Talks UConn Basketball, MSG, and More

UConn's men's basketball coach Dan Hurley reflects on the journey that took him from a legendary New Jersey basketball family to Gampel Pavilion.

December 11, 2019 | Kenneth Best

Athletics

Mural characters that will be animated in the Grand Foyer of the Bushnell as part of the UConn Film and Animation Showcase at the famed venue.

Projecting a New Image for Films and Animations at The Bushnell

Hartford's famed Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts hosts a festival of short films and animations made by UConn students, along with a new installation in the theater's foyer by Digital Media and Design students.

December 6, 2019 | Kenneth Best

A depressed little girl sits alone on a filthy city sidewalk

Researchers: Look at factors outside the family that cause child neglect

UConn researchers say that looking beyond family dynamics to larger social factors may inform policy makers looking to reduce instances of child neglect.

December 2, 2019 | Kenneth Best

Community Impact

A black and white photo of a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City

Macy’s Parade Balloons Are Upside-Down Puppets

A forum held at UConn's Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry revealed some surprising facts about the famous balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and how they involve the disciplines of puppetry and engineering.

November 26, 2019 | Kenneth Best

Actors in Elizabethan garb on stage in a production of Shakespeare in Love.

Re-Imagining the Bard’s Origin Story with ‘Shakespeare in Love’ at CRT

A superhero-like origin story for one of the world's greatest writers is the theme of "Shakespeare in Love," which is coming to the Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

November 21, 2019 | Kenneth Best

Two musicians perform on flute and violin in front of an outdoor crowd.

UConn Faculty Soloists Perform with Ukraine Symphony at Jorgensen

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine will have a distinct UConn sound for its performance on campus.

November 20, 2019 | Kenneth Best

Final artwork of title page for In the Night Kitchen (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), The Maurice Sendak Collection. Archives & Special Collections, UConn Library. © The Maurice Sendak Foundation.

First Look at Sendak Collection Items: In the Night Kitchen Exhibit

In 1969, children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak wrote excitedly about his work on In the Night Kitchen. “I’m mad for it-and it’s mad,” he noted.

November 12, 2019 | Kenneth Best