At Princeton he majored in European history, joined Charter Club, and roomed with Beck Fisher and Ernie Ruehl. After junior year he was in the Army for two years, then returned to graduate in 1957.
In magazine publishing, John was first with McGraw-Hill, then publisher of an independent magazine, Petroleum Engineer. When he retired in 1982 his career had taken him from Dallas to Palos Verdes, Calif.; to Pittsburgh and Houston; then back to Dallas, home base for the rest of his life.
Retirement began nearly nonstop travel with his wife, Madelyn, now deceased, and often also with his children Bruce and Gillian, who survive them. Bruce remembers: “Dad absolutely loved to travel. I think he went to every country there is, definitely every continent, including Antarctica. They went to the Caribbean every winter, then to Russia, Asia, five safaris in Africa. When he was older, he loved to take cruises around the world, usually three a year. Some people like the port calls. Not dad. He liked the days at sea when he could read all the books he took along.”