John Jay Osborn Jr. (August 5, 1945 – October 19, 2022) was an American author, lawyer and legal academic. He is best known for his bestselling novel '' The Paper Chase'' published in 1971.

Early life

Osborn was born in Boston on August 5, 1945. His father, John Jay Sr., was a doctor at Stanford University School of Medicine; his mother was Anne (née Kidder). He was a descendant of both

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

, the first Chief Justice of the United States, and of railroad baron

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

. His family relocated to the Bay Area when Osborn was nine. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in American History from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1967 and graduated with a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1970. He also did graduate work at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Osborn clerked for Judge

Max Rosenn Max Rosenn (February 4, 1910 – February 7, 2006) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education and career Born to a Jewish family in Plains, Pennsylvania, Rosenn received a Bachelor of ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

from 1970 to 1972. He was later an

associate attorney An associate attorney is a lawyer and an employee of a law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner. Types Practicing attorney An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ownership interest in ...

with the firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. Osborn taught law at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

, the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

, and the

University of San Francisco School of Law The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Sc ...

, from which he retired in 2018. For his third-year writing project at Harvard Law, Osborn wrote '' The Paper Chase'', a fictional account of one Harvard Law School student's battles with the imperious Professor Charles Kingsfield. Osborn found a publisher with the assistance of

William Alfred William Alfred (August 16, 1922 – May 20, 1999) was an American playwright, poet, and professor of English literature at Harvard University. Biography Alfred was born into an Irish family in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a bricklayer a ...

and the book was released in 1971. It was made into a film two years later, starring John Houseman and

Timothy Bottoms Timothy James Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971); Sonny Crawford in ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cy ...

. Houseman won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as contracts professor Kingsfield. ''The Paper Chase'' also became a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

, and Osborn wrote several of the scripts. Osborn's third novel, ''The Associates'', was adapted into a short-lived

starring Martin Short and

Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ear ...

. He was also one of the writers (along with Thomas A. Cohen) of the screenplay for the 2010

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of the 1983 novel ''

The River Why ''The River Why'' is a 1983 novel by David James Duncan. While it starts off as a fishing story, ''The River Why'' turns into the story of a young person struggling to come to grips with the modern world. Plot summary A coming-of-age story narr ...

'' by

David James Duncan David James Duncan (born 1952)
at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,

...

. His final book, ''Listen to the Marriage'', was published in 2018.

Personal life

Osborn married Emilie Heffron Sisson in 1968. She was a Radcliffe College graduate who worked as a physician with the

Palo Alto Medical Foundation The Palo Alto Medical Foundation for Health Care, Research, and Education (PAMF) is a not-for-profit health care organization with medical offices in more than 15 cities in the Bay Area. It has more than 900 physicians and had over 2 million patie ...

, and they remained married until his death. Together, they had three children, Sam, Meredith (who also attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School) and Shef. Osborn died on October 19, 2022, at his home in San Francisco. He was 77 years old and suffered from

squamous cell cancer Squamous-cell carcinomas (SCCs), also known as epidermoid carcinomas, comprise a number of different types of cancer that begin in squamous cells. These cells form on the surface of the skin, on the lining of hollow organs in the body, and on the ...

prior to his death.

Publications

Novels * ''The Paper Chase'' (1971) * ''The Only Thing I've Done Wrong'' (1977) * ''The Associates'' (1979) * ''The Man Who Owned New York'' (1981) * ''Listen to the Marriage'' (2018) Scripts * ''The Paper Chase'' (15 of 54 episodes, 1978–1986) ** "The Man Who Would Be King" (1978) ** "A Day in the Life of..." (1978) ** "Moot Court" (1978) ** "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (1978) ** "Scavenger Hunt" (1979) ** "Outline Fever" (1983) ** "Birthday Party" (1983) ** "Plague of Locusts" (1983) ** "Snow" (1983) ** "Mrs. Hart" (1984) ** "War of the Wonks" (1984) ** "Billy Pierce" (1984) (teleplay only) ** "Decisions: Part 1" (1985) ** "Decisions: Part 2" (1985) ** "Honor" (1986) * ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'' (1 episode, 1986–1994) ** "December Bribe" (1987) * '' Spenser: For Hire'' (1 episode, 1985–1988) ** "Substantial Justice" (1988) * ''The River Why'' (2010, with Thomas A. Cohen)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, John Jay Jr. 1945 births 2022 deaths Deaths from squamous cell carcinoma of skin Harvard Law School alumni University of Miami faculty University of San Francisco faculty Yale University faculty Yeshiva University faculty American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler people Novelists from Florida Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from New York (state) Yale Law School alumni Writers from Boston John Jay Vanderbilt family Deaths from cancer in California