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John Jakes

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Author

The Resume

    (March 31, 1932-March 11, 2023)
    Born in Chicago, Illinois
    Author of historical fiction
    Best known for the Kent Family Chronicles (8 books, 1974-79) and the Civil War trilogy 'North and South' (1982-87)

Why he might be annoying:

    He initially planned to be an actor: ‘I enjoyed showing off.’
    He met his wife when she was his lab instructor in college biology.
    He spent sixteen years as an advertising copywriter even though ‘I didn't like the agency work and got progressively worse.’
    He also used the pen names Alan Payne and Jay Scotland.
    He said about his books that pre-dated the Kent Family Chronicles, ‘I had written half a dozen paperback historicals before that and they weren't very good… I was ready to hang it up.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He sold short stories to pulp magazines in his teens.
    He was married to Rachel Payne for 71 years.
    He and Rachel were contestants on Beat the Clock, winning a 20-inch Sylvania television set (1952).
    He was the first author to have three books on the New York Times bestsellers list simultaneously (1975).
    He carefully researched the facts in his novels, noting ‘I feel a real responsibility to my readers. I began to realize about two or three books into the Kent series that I was the only source of history that some of these people had ever had.’
    He wrote a stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ that has become a frequently performed play (1988).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 70 Votes: 50.0% Annoying