John Jakes Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
John William Jakes was born on March 31, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up fascinated by storytelling, the theater, and American history. He attended DePauw University in Indiana, where he studied writing and literature and participated in campus publications and performance. He continued his studies at Ohio State University, earning a graduate degree in literature. Those years gave him grounding in research and narrative craft that would later define his historical novels, as well as early exposure to editors and mentors who encouraged disciplined daily work.

Finding His Voice: Apprenticeship in Genre Fiction
In the 1950s and 1960s Jakes built a working writer's life the hard way. He supported his family with jobs in advertising and corporate communications while writing at night and on weekends. He published short stories and novels in several popular genres, including science fiction, fantasy, westerns, and mystery. Among his early creations was Brak the Barbarian, a sword-and-sorcery hero who appeared in magazines and paperback originals. This apprenticeship taught him pacing, scene construction, and how to keep readers turning pages. It also connected him with the editors and paperback publishers who would later help carry his historical sagas to a national audience.

The Kent Family Chronicles
Jakes's national breakthrough arrived in the 1970s with The Kent Family Chronicles, also known as the American Bicentennial series. Beginning with The Bastard and continuing through a multivolume saga, the novels followed generations of the Kent family through the Revolutionary era and the early republic. He combined meticulous research with cliffhanger plotting, weaving real figures and events into the lives of his fictional protagonists. The series sold in the millions, reached bestseller lists, and made Jakes a household name. The success brought him into close collaboration with publishing teams at major New York houses, publicists, copy editors, and book-club editors who helped introduce the series to readers across the United States.

North and South and Television Stardom
In the 1980s Jakes turned to the Civil War with the North and South trilogy, centered on the friendship and rivalry between Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania. The novels explored the bonds and fractures of a nation at war while keeping the focus on family, loyalty, and moral choice. Their popularity led producer David L. Wolper and television partners to adapt the books into lavish miniseries. The screen versions featured stars such as Patrick Swayze, James Read, Lesley-Anne Down, and Kirstie Alley, bringing Jakes's characters to tens of millions of viewers. The partnership with Wolper and the casts and crews of the productions marked a decisive moment in his public life, drawing him into a broader creative circle that included screenwriters, directors, and historical consultants.

Later Novels and a Broader Canvas
After North and South, Jakes continued to range across American history. He published Homeland and American Dreams, following immigrant experiences and the making of modern Chicago and the nation's cultural industries. He returned to the South with Charleston and Savannah (also published as Savannah; or, A Gift for Mr. Lincoln), novels that examined city life, class, and the lingering effects of war. In The Gods of Newport he explored the Gilded Age and the rituals of wealth and status. He also wrote On Secret Service, a Civil War espionage story. Throughout, Jakes maintained relationships with researchers, librarians, and historians who assisted in locating primary sources and verifying details. Booksellers and librarians became important allies, organizing events that brought him face to face with multigenerational readers who had grown up with his sagas.

Working Habits and Research
Jakes approached the historical novel as both scholar and entertainer. He read widely in letters, diaries, newspapers, and city directories, then folded that knowledge into plots driven by family conflict and personal stakes. He often credited the quiet labor of archivists and reference librarians for helping him uncover telling period details, and he acknowledged the role of patient editors who balanced accuracy with readability. His longstanding relationships with book designers and cover artists also mattered; he believed the physical presence of a novel helped set the stage for the story inside.

Personal Life
Jakes married young and raised a family while building his career, often noting that the constancy and support at home made the long, solitary work of writing possible. He lived for many years in the Midwest and later in the South, including an extended period in South Carolina, before spending his later years in Florida. He enjoyed music and the theater, wrote occasional essays about the craft of storytelling, and spoke at libraries, universities, and historical societies. He valued the company of fellow writers and the guidance of publishing professionals who shaped his manuscripts from draft to finished book.

Later Years and Passing
In his final decades Jakes remained active, revisiting themes of memory, national identity, and the costs of progress. He appeared at book festivals and on television specials about American history and popular culture, reflecting on the way miniseries and mass-market fiction helped create a shared historical imagination. John Jakes died in 2023 at the age of 90. He was survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren, as well as a wide circle of friends, collaborators, and readers who had been part of his life and work.

Legacy and Influence
Jakes's legacy rests on the scale and accessibility of his storytelling. He made the historical epic a staple of American popular fiction, proving that readers would follow long, multigenerational narratives if the characters felt alive and the history felt immediate. Teachers used his novels to spark classroom interest in the Revolution and the Civil War. Television adaptations introduced new audiences to the pleasures of the historical saga, aided by collaborators such as David L. Wolper and the actors who embodied his characters. His books sold in vast numbers, were translated widely, and remained in print, sustaining a conversation about the past and how it is remembered. For many, John Jakes became a gateway to history: a writer whose work connected the intimate dramas of family with the broader forces that shaped the United States.

Our collection contains 5 quotes who is written by John, under the main topics: Writing - Nature - Free Will & Fate - Nostalgia.