John C. Wolfe (born November 10, 1965) is an American writer, author, and speechwriter. He has worked as a sports writer, a magazine editor, and the senior writer for the Monroe County Executive in Rochester. He was the chief speechwriter to New York Governor George E. Pataki for ten years. He spent the subsequent two years of Pataki's tenure as a senior writer to the SUNY Chancellor in Albany.[1] Wolfe played a key role in Pataki's response to several historical events, from the crash of TWA Flight 800 to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.[2] He is the author of four books, most notably, "A Day of Clarity"[3] and "The Dead Man's King."
Wolfe was born John Carden Wolfe in Rochester, New York, the son of Dr. John A. Wolfe and Terry McConnell. After graduating from Springfield College in 1988, he taught English in Western New York for two years and also coached varsity wrestling in the Elba and Oakfield-Alabama school districts. He started his career in writing as a resume writer then went on to assume various roles in both the private and public sectors, i.e., legal proofreader; advertising copywriter; sportswriter; editorial writer for two monthly magazines in Rochester, New York; chief writer for various elected officials; and Chief Speechwriter for former New York Gov. George Pataki.[1]
Wolfe graduated from Brighton High School in Rochester, New York. In 1984, Wolfe worked at WBBF-WMJQ & Q92 as an overnight board operator. He subsequently earned degrees in English and Physical Education from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, 1988. He wrestled for both schools.[1]
In 1987, Wolfe worked for WWLP 22, a television station in Springfield, Massachusetts (affiliated with NBC) writing content and operating a teleprompter for the noontime newscasts.
Rochester Business Profiles, may 1992Rochesterian Magazine, October1993
In the early 1990s, after a two-year stint as a copywriter for Hutchins/Young & Rubicam, Wolfe worked as a freelance writer for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Buffalo Bills publication Shout!, a job that included conducting locker-room interviews and making nightly appearances as a sports analyst for a television station in Rochester.[1]
Wolfe joined Rochester Business Profiles in 1992 and served as editor for one year before accepting a new role as editorial writer and editor of Rochester’s leading weekly magazine, the Rochesterian.
In 1993, the Rochester Teacher's Association presented Wolfe with a special award for journalism for "Bound by Bureaucracy," a series of investigative cover stories and editorials exposing waste and negligence in the Rochester City School District in 1993.[1]
Wolfe was recruited into the public sector by Monroe County Executive Robert L. King and served as chief speechwriter for both King and his successor, the Honorable John D. Doyle.
John C. Wolfe near Ground Zero of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Two years later, Wolfe was appointed to the position of chief speechwriter[4] by newly elected Gov. George E. Pataki; he stayed in that position for almost ten of Pataki's twelve years in office. Wolfe played a key role in Pataki's response to several historical events, from the crash of TWA Flight 800 to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.[2]
In addition to the mundane annual addresses, Pataki was either expected or obligated to deliver, Wolfe wrote two of Gov. Pataki's inaugural addresses; both of Pataki's announcements on running for Governor; both of his primetime addresses before the 1996 and 2000 National Republican Conventions; numerous commencement addresses; and dozens of other high-profile national addresses on a broad range of topics from U.S. foreign and economic policy to welfare, regulatory and criminal justice reform.
From 1996 to 2001, John C. Wolfe wrote more than 160 eulogies for victims of the crash of TWA Flight 800 and the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11.
Ironically, despite knowing more than a dozen people who perished in the Twin Towers, the 9/11 casualty Wolfe was closest to was Brian Sweeny,[5] who was aboard Flight 175. which crashed into the South Tower. [6]
Wolfe in 2003, reading a budget address one final time before the Governor's annual address.
Wolfe wrote the first two public service announcements following the September 11 attacks. The first was delivered on national television by George W. Bush and George Pataki, and the second was delivered by Gov. Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.[2]
Leaving Ground Zero on September 13th to address an emergency joint session of the New York State Legislature in Albany.Rochesterian, September 1993The Rochester Teachers Assn. presents Wolfe with award for Courage in Journalism.
"On September 11th, I wrote the Governor’s first official statement about the attacks and saved the document under the filename 'WTC-1.' A year later, I wrote the Governor’s remarks for a one-year commemoration at Ground Zero. I saved that document as 'WTC-163.' About half of those were eulogies. It was hard, make that impossible, not to internalize all that sorrow."
From left: John C. Wolfe, Gov. George Pataki, Fmr. Sec. of State Henry Kissinger.
In 2007, he abandoned the public sector phase of his career and moved to the Adirondacks, where his writing was limited to a series of published op-eds in several newspapers, including the New York Times and the Times of Israel.[8] He also wrote speeches for former George W. Bush administration officials on the privatization of post-war Iraq. That same year, he launched www.johnwolfespeechwriter.com, which was ranked by freelance.com as the nation's best speechwriting website in 2008. In 2012, the Town Board of Chestertown, New York, appointed Wolfe to the position of Zoning Officer, a position Wolfe neither sought nor wanted. Despite having no experience in the field, Wolfe accepted the position, giving him the rare experience of having worked for three different levels of government: Town, County and State. Less than two years later, Wolfe checked into the Caron Foundation Treatment Center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, for treatment of alcoholism. He began writing about his drinking experience in 2014.[9]
Wolfe is the author of four published books and many articles.
In 2016, Wolfe penned his first book, You Can't Die: A Day of Clarity. The book details his 25-year battle with alcoholism.[10] In this 300-page book, John has detailed the issues addicts experience. The book was purchased by Pegasus Publishing[11] in 2022 and re-released as "A Day of Clarity"[12][13] on May 23, 2023. The new version includes significant editing and incorporates Wolfe's second book (read below) into the last few chapters.
In 2018, he wrote his second book, The Funny Thing About Being Sober, a humorous account of his first year of sobriety. In between punchlines and funny anecdotes, Wolfe details the excruciating consequences of his addition to alcohol.[9]
The Dead Man's King, 2019.
In 2019, he wrote his third book and the first work of fiction, The Dead Man's King. The book tells the story of 59 homeless men who establish their own city, Misfit City, in a portion of New York's Central Park.[14] The book also includes the theme of alcoholism and government's failure in supporting addicts.
The Funny Thing About Being Sober, 2018
In 2020, he completed his fourth book, A Little Uprising: The Muskrat Rebellion, which ominously portends civil unrest in New York State. Completed weeks before the worldwide pandemic, the book predicts the resignation of the disgraced fictitious character—Governor. Eighteen months later, after A Little Uprising was released, the New York's real Governor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned in disgrace.[15]
Since Wolfe has battled the disease of addiction to alcohol, his major topic of interest revolved around alcoholism in one or the other form. Three of his books discuss the theme of alcoholism and mental illness.[16]
On November 10, 2003, his birthday, Wolfe checked himself into Conifer Park Rehabilitation Center in Glenville, New York, for alcoholism treatment. Three months later, on February 3, 2004, Wolfe suffered a near-fatal overdose on the prescription drug Klonopin, which a doctor prescribed to combat the withdrawal symptoms from alcohol.
After a month-long hospitalization, Wolfe left his office on the Governor's floor in the NYS Capital and quietly served out the rest of the Governor's term at SUNY Plaza, formerly the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Company Building, in downtown Albany, New York. There, he was appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees to the position of Chief Writer and Associate Vice Chancellor for the State University of New York.
In 2007, following a divorce, Wolfe retreated to his lake house on Loon Lake in Chestertown, New York. He spent the next decade in and out of alcohol treatment facilities until finally getting sober in 2013, an ordeal he detailed in his first book, A Day of Clarity, which was originally self-published on Amazon and Kindle but subsequently purchased by Pegasus, scheduled for re-release in the summer of 2023 .[9]
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/10/nyregion/pataki-vows-to-limit-spending-and-to-avoid-delaying-tax-cuts.html
New York Times Gov. Hochul paying 2.3 million dollars for speechwriting consultants https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/nyregion/hochul-consultants-state-of-state.html?fbclid=IwAR1U7mYJeWTs4ncIZsfCi3fpAFLrcmvvLSgOLhFYnciYKOELPXgthoBlr4Q
The New York Times "Pataki Vows To Limit Spending And To Avoid Delaying Tax Cuts"[2]
MSN “Hochul Paid for Outside Help Speeches” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hochul-spent-2-million-on-outside-ghostwriters-for-state-of-the-state-addresses-report/ar-AA19TDvf
NY PostHochul Spent $2M on Ghostwriters https://nypost.com/2023/04/15/hochul-spent-2-million-on-ghostwriters-for-yearly-address/
Baltimore SunOp-ed by John C. Wolfe https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-drug-treatment-prison-letter-20190306-story.html
John C. WolfeAlbany Times UnionOp-ed by John C. Wolfe https://m.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Commentary-Assisted-recovery-the-way-to-treat-13760881.php?fbclid=IwAR1MUIXsmMZFW-fKjzcdiNaFipNSX8KNwKkptc_NYlrkhIdKcUnQKiAagBg
Troy Record Op-ed by John C. Wolfe https://www.troyrecord.com/2010/10/01/pulse-of-the-people-ag-should-stick-to-message/amp/
Buzzfeed, Taco Stand Alcoholism https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/people-are-totally-obsessed-with-this-dads-winter-storm?utm_term=.imZALxP6q#.lt8V6v3gb
me and pataki 38.jpg 
