John Jerome (1932-2002) was an American writer of nonfiction. Jerome was born on November 7, 1932, in
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
,
Oklahoma. His father was Ralph Jerome, a draftsman for oil-drilling companies, and his mother was Gwendolyn (Stewart) Jerome. He graduated from high school in
New Braunfels
New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just north ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. In 1952, he married his first wife, Nancy Sellman. They had three children, Kathleen, Martin Stewart, and Julia.
He held a B.A. from North Texas State College (now University), received in 1955. After teaching in
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
, Jerome went to work in 1959 as an editor for ''Sports Car Digest'' in Odessa, Texas. In 1962, he moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to serve as managing editor of ''Car and Driver'' magazine until 1964. After living in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
for a time, working as a copywriter, in 1965 he divorced his wife, and a year later married Christine McCall, a writer and editor.
In 1967 the Jeromes moved to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
. They lived in rural
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
and then in rural western
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. Jerome freelanced as an editor and magazine writer, and wrote a dozen books, as well as the annual ''Complete Runner’s Day-by-Day Log and Calendar'' which he produced from 1986 through 2003.
Perhaps his best-known book was ''Truck'', a set of meditations on technology and work framed by the process of rebuilding an old pickup truck. ''Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life'' also received critical acclaim.
He died in 2002 of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
.
References
Bibliography
*''The Death of the Automobile: The Fatal Effect of the Golden Era'', 1955–1970. W. W. Norton, 1972.
*''Truck: On Rebuilding a Worn-Out Pickup and Other Post-Technological Adventures''. Houghton Mifflin, 1977; Bantam, 1978; University Press of New England, 1996.
*''On Mountains: Thinking About Terrain''. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978; McGraw-Hill, 1979.
*''The Sweet Spot in Time: The Search for Athletic Perfection''. Summit, 1980; Touchstone, 1989; Breakaway Books, 1998.
*''Staying With It: On Becoming an Athlete''. Viking, 1984. Breakaway Books 1998.
*''Staying Supple: The Bountiful Pleasures of Stretching''. Bantam, 1989. Breakaway Books 1998.
*''Stone Work: Reflections on Serious Play and Other Aspects of Country Life''. Viking, 1989; Penguin,1990; University Press of New England, 1996;
Recorded Books
Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...
, 1997.
*''The Writing Trade: A Year in the Life''. Viking, 1992; Lyons and Burford, 1995.
*''Blue Rooms: Ripples, Rivers, Pools, and Other Waters''. Henry Holt, 1997.
*''The Elements of Effort: Reflections on the Art and Science of Running''. Breakaway Books, 1997; Pocket Books, 1998; Recorded Books, 1999.
*''The Athletic Classics of John Jerome: The Sweet Spot in Time, Staying With It, Staying Supple.'' Breakaway Books, 1998. Boxed set.
*''On Turning 65: Notes from the Field''. Random House, 2000.
External sources
In Memory of John JeromeReview of Jerome's ''Truck'' in ''Pif Magazine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerome, John
1932 births
2002 deaths
People from New Braunfels, Texas
20th-century American male writers