Ely Jacques Kahn Jr. (December 4, 1916 – May 28, 1994) was an American writer with The New Yorker for five decades.
His long career with the magazine resulted in numerous books on such varied subjects as Coca-Cola, Lesley J. McNair, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Harvard University, Herbert Bayard Swope, Frank Sinatra, Dwayne O. Andreas of Archer Daniels Midland, and the Postal Inspection Service.
However, his multi-part series on grain, which was published in book form as "Staffs of Life" in 1985, was criticized by some as an example of the self-indulgent journalism that marked The New Yorker during the 1970s and '80s.
Kahn lived in Scarborough-on-Hudson, New York, for more than 20 years, and was a member of the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department.
Putnam's, 1979) is a diary interspersed with memories of his life, the magazine, and its editor William Shawn—whom Kahn calls "The Iron Mouse."