Jack Thomas
John “Jack” Charles Thomas (born February 16, 1939) was an American print journalist, as well as a columnist, editor, and ombudsman.
| Jack Thomas | |
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| http://jackthomas1.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/4/1/104177632/1917147-102097609812893-5637748-n_orig.jpg Jack Thomas sails off of cape cod with his granddaughter | |
| Born | John February 16, 1939 Boston, Massachusetts |
| 💼 Occupation | Journalist, Columnist, Editor, and Ombudsman |
| Twitter= | |
Early Life[edit]
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States to an Irish and Welsh family, Jack Thomas grew up as the son of a mechanic in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His childhood was dominated by his involvement in All Saints’ Church, an Episcopal Diocese in his hometown. After graduating from Dorchester High School in 1957, he attended Northeastern University for two years. When he succeeded in his work-study program as a copy boy at the Boston Globe, he decided to drop out of Northeastern University in 1959.[1]
Career[edit]
After dropping out of college in 1959, Jack went to work at the Haverhill Journal, Ipswich bureau. After a year in Ipswich, he transferred to the main office in Haverhill to work the night shift. At the same time, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. After two years as a journalist for the paper, he was promoted to Assistant City Editor of the Haverhill Journal.
In 1963, Jack Thomas was hired back to the Boston Globe as a police reporter. The next year, he was switched assignments from the police departments to the city desk. Between 1964 and 1966, he covered the Massachusetts State House and an FCC hearing in Washington DC deciding the future of Boston TV licenses.
A year after Jack Thomas was made Assistant City Editor, he was promoted to be the youngest City Editor in the history of the paper. During his time as city editor, Boston City Hall and New England Aquarium were built and Vietnam War protests were held all across the state.
In 1971, he was assigned to the Globe’s Washington D.C. Bureau for four months, before his year leave for a prestigious journalism fellowship at Stanford University. After his time in Palo Alto, He returned home to Boston to write editorials for one year. In 1972, he lived undercover for a week in Deer Island Prison, where he wrote a scathing piece on the inadequate treatment and accommodations for prisoners.
In 1974, Jack Thomas was promoted to the Globe’s National Correspondent. During his time as national correspondent, he was assigned to a four-month series on threats to the American coastline. He travelled to 46 of the 50 states on duty. In 1976, he worked on a six-month series on world hunger, in Africa, Rome, and in Maine, Mississippi, Maryland, and other states. It was cited for excellence by the Pulitzer Prize Committee in 1976.
Between 1978 and 1981, Jack Thomas moved back full time to Boston and wrote twice weekly columns for the Boston Globe Living pages. In 1981, he was assigned to special projects and articles by the Globe editorial staff. For example, he travelled the country for five months, resulting in a seven-part series of 13,000 words that retraced the steps of Alexis de Tocqueville 150 years after he wrote Democracy in America.
For the next seven years after his trip across America, Jack Thomas was assigned to be the Boston Globe’s TV critic, living three months a year in New York and Hollywood.[2][3] During his time as TV critic, he reviewed such TV classics as Dallas. In 1987, Jack wrote about Compass, an inner-city school in Boston.[4] In 1988, he joined the Globe’s Living pages as a feature writer. In 1992, he wrote a piece named “Down and Out in Boston,” which depicted his week long experience as homeless person in Boston shelters. The three-part series was honored by the Associated Press News Executives Association.
In the piece released on February 12, 1992, he quoted a conversation he had had with a homeless man. In it, the man asked him why he was writing this story. Jack Thomas responded:
“I don't know. I think governments in Washington and in Massachusetts have abandoned the poor. I don't know whether it's because they don't know what to do, or whether they don't care. A lot of us drive by shelters or walk by homeless people without seeing them. And the numbers are growing so fast, we're becoming numb, and we can't seem to agree on what a society owes its own people when they're down and out. I thought that maybe if the homeless were written about as people instead of abstract numbers, well, it might make a difference."[5]
In 1997, Jack Thomas was named ombudsman for the Boston Globe.[6][7] As ombudsman, he harshly criticized both Mike Barnacle and Jeff Jacoby for plagiarism at the Boston Globe.[8][9] After four years as ombudsman, he returned the living pages as a feature writer and columnist.[10] Five years later, he retired from the Boston Globe, as the paper began downsizing and cutting staff.[1] After retirement, Jack wrote a few more articles, including one for the Boston Irish Reporter and a review of Mark Kurrlansky's "The Food of a Younger Land."[11]
Personal Life[edit]
In 1963, Jack Thomas married Emy Thomas. They had two daughters, Alyson Faith Thomas (born 1965) and Jennifer Lee Thomas (born 1968). After twenty years of marriage, mostly based out of Hingham Massachusetts, the couple separated. Eight years later, they divorced.
In 1992, Jack Thomas married Geraldine Denterlein, the founder of Denterlein, a Public Relations firm in Boston. Two years into the marriage, their son, John Patrick Thomas, was born. He is a graduating senior at Duke University in 2017.
After retirement, Jack decided to return to academic life. In 2012, he graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor degree in humanities. He is currently pursuing his Masters degree in English literature at Harvard University.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Jack Thomas". Jack Thomas. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
- ↑ "TELEVISION JACK THOMAS". archive.is. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ Maddocks, Melvin (1981-04-20). "Country music of the spheres". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ "Setting COMPASS for a New Home - Boston Globe 1987". fc.compassboston.org. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ Jack, Thomas, (1992-01-01). "Down and Out in Boston". New England Journal of Public Policy. 8 (1). ISSN 0749-016X.
- ↑ Globe, The Boston. "The Boston Globe Announces Two Appointments". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ "No White House vandalism". www.penceland.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ "Orthodoxy And The Boston Globe". Jewish Week. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ "Jeff Jacoby (columnist)". Wikipedia. 2017-04-12.
- ↑ KENNEDY, BY DAN. "Don't Quote Me | Fangs a lot". www.bostonphoenix.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ↑ "Mark Kurlansky | Press". www.markkurlansky.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
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