Jon Carroll was a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1982, when he succeeded columnist Charles McCabe, to 2015, when he retired. His column appeared on the back page of the Chronicle's Datebook section Tuesdays through Fridays. Locally, he was best known for his liberal politics and his odd, self-referential humor.
Carroll was born in Los Angeles and raised in nearby Pasadena. He attended UC Berkeley, where he edited the campus humor magazine, the California Pelican.