Jack-John?

You may wonder why my blog’s URL is “JackJohnLife.com”. Like my father and grandfather, I was named “John”. But also like my dad, I was nicknamed “Jack”. Not everyone knows Jack is a nickname for John, but I always give the example of John F Kennedy, who was also called Jack Kennedy. When I started school, since my official records said my name was “John” that is what my teachers called me. Who was I to disagree? As a result, I went through school being called “John” by my classmates, while my closest friends from the neighborhood and my family called me “Jack” (or “Jackie”). When I turned 11, I joined the Boy Scouts. That created a dilemma, as those in the troop who knew me from school called me “John”, and those who were my closest friends called me “Jack”. I still remember my first meeting when the Scoutmaster called me up to introduce me to the troop. He asked “Would you rather be called Jack or John?” I sheepishly replied “It doesn’t matter”, to which he responded, “OK, then we’ll call you Jack-John!”. And the name stuck for many of my scouting years. I continued to go by “John” in college and my first job, always avoiding having to correct people on what to call me, as all my official documents said I was “John”. When I eventually met my future wife, Eva, at the Institute for Cancer Research, like everyone else, she called me John. But once we started dating, I figured I better tell her what I really preferred to be called, before she met my friends and family. “I know you call me John, but now you can switch to Jack.” My name continues to cause confusion- for example, sometimes it’s hard to cash a check made out to “JacK” when my real name is “John”. Needless to say, we didn’t name any of our 3 sons “John” (or “Jack”)!

Jack-John with Rick and Bill of the Panther Patrol, Troop 160, Burholme, PA