Mark Bennett: Farewell John Jakes, one of America's best-read authors, former Hautean

Mar. 23—Childhoods matter. Each uniquely shapes a future life.

The boyhood years John Jakes spent in Terre Haute left an impression.

He lived a long life, becoming one of America's most popular novelists and the "godfather of historical fiction" before passing away on March 11 at age 90 in Sarasota, Fla. Jakes and his wife, Rachel, had lived in the South for more than a half-century. Yet, those days spent living with his parents in Terre Haute, his mother's hometown, lingered in Jakes' creative mind.

One of his earliest memories unfolded in the Indiana Theatre downtown. As a 7-year-old, Jakes saw his first Western movie, "Dodge City" starring Hollywood icon Errol Flynn, in the Indiana. He crawled under his seat when the noisy guns blazed, Jakes recalled in a 2007 Tribune-Star interview.

Perhaps that dramatic moment inside a cinema sparked a vision of theatrical adventures to come. Jakes wrote more than 60 novels, including a batch of New York Times Bestseller book series — the 1970s "Kent Family Chronicles" on a fictional Revolutionary War-era family, the 1980s Civil War-based "North and South" trilogy, and the 1990s Crown Family sagas "Homeland" and "American Dreams." Three of his books from the "North and South" series were turned into the star-studded "North and South" ABC television miniseries.

It attracted the seventh-highest ratings ever for a TV miniseries.

Jakes probably didn't climb under his living room chair when the guns blazed during the "North and South" TV show, like he did as a kid in the Indiana.

Consider also Jakes' dedication of his 1993 novel "Homeland" to his grandfather, William Carl Metz. He was Jakes' mother's father, an immigrant who came to America from Aalen, Germany as a 21-year-old and eventually settled in Cincinnati and then Terre Haute. Jakes' grandfather inspired the immigrant element of "Homeland." Its dedication alludes to a photograph of young John sitting in the lap of his elderly grandfather, most likely in Terre Haute.

"There is a photo of him in old age, handsome still in his white imperial, seated in dappled sunlight with a small boy on his knee," Jakes wrote. "I remember that day, or one like it, and a copy of Argosy with a bright yellow cover lying nearby. My grandfather loved good stories. In loving memory."

John Jakes told good stories. Critics often dismissed Jakes' writing for being crafted to appeal to mass audiences. His books sold well, no doubt. The "Kent Family Chronicles" sold more than 55 million copies alone, while the "North and South" series sold another 10 million.

But Jakes also received honorary degrees from five colleges, calling him "America's history teacher" and "the people's author."

Indeed, as Mark Twain once wrote of criticism of his novels, "My books are water; those of the great geniuses is wine. Everybody drinks water."

Another aspect of Jakes often misunderstood were his roots. He and his wife Rachel — a Danville, Ill., native whom Jakes met while they were students at DePauw University in Greencastle — moved from Ohio to South Carolina in 1978, when his writing career was already in full ascent. Despite being a newcomer to that sector of the country, Jakes was curiously described in news accounts as a "Southern writer."

"I consider myself an American writer, not a Southern writer," Jakes told me in the 2007 phone interview. He added, "I suppose I'm still a Midwesterner at heart. I don't know what that means, though."

At the least, it means that person's roots still matter in their life.

Jakes was born a Midwesterner in the teeth of the Great Depression — 1932 Chicago. His dad, John A. Jakes, worked for the Railway Express Agency, "a company man," who transferred from town to town. Just as young John reached school age, the Jakes moved to Terre Haute, hometown of John's mother, Bertha (Metz) Jakes, who'd earned a degree from Indiana State Teachers College (now ISU). Jakes' grandfather William Metz ran a butcher shop on Poplar Street in Terre Haute and owned the National Hotel downtown.

Young John attended the private King Classical School, operated by Bertha Pratt King, the longtime companion and eventual wife of Terre Haute poet Max Ehrmann. Jakes' passion for reading began then, thanks to a book club membership that brought those stories to his home. Those years remained a fond memory for Jakes.

"I have vivid memories of Terre Haute, but not in great detail," he said in 2007. "It was a very nice neighborhood at the time. People sat out on their front porches, and they knew their neighbors. And I think that's something America is missing now."

Though his family soon moved and Jakes went on to graduate from Senn High School in Chicago, Terre Haute remained a destination for them. Jakes' parents moved back to Terre Haute after his father retired and John visited them. Though Jakes' father died in 1958, his mother lived to age 91 and stayed active in the Vigo County Historical Museum, according to longtime Vigo County historian Mike McCormick. In his 2007 interview, Jakes recalled dining with his mom at the old Goodie Shop on Ohio Street and taking his children to Deming Park.

"I still long for the good old days when people used to take their kids out to that east-side park and ride the train," Jakes said.

He'd be glad know that still happens today.

Jakes' Hoosier ties continued after high school. He spent a year at Northwestern University studying acting, but followed his calling and transferred to DePauw University in Greencastle, earning a degree in creative writing. Jakes sold his first story as a student in 1951, which he described as a sci-fi tale of a man vs. a demonic toaster, according to DePauw's archives. Also in 1951, Jakes married Rachel in Danville. He graduated from DePauw two years later. He took jobs with advertising agencies — to pay the bills — in Chicago and Dayton, where Rachel's mom lived.

He continued working as an ad copywriter and creative director into his 40s, but to build up extra money for his kids' college educations, Jakes kept writing short stories, sci-fi novellas for the "Man From U.N.C.L.E." magazines, Westerns and mysteries. Just when he was about to stop writing, his ad agency lost a lucrative account.

Jakes asked himself, "So what are you going to do? So I thought I would [pursue writing full time], and a couple years later the Kent books came along, and the rest is history."

Millions of readers and people in his life, no doubt, benefited from Jakes' bold choice to be a writer. His wife and their four children, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren survive him, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

"John Jakes was a gentleman and a scholar, as well as a titan in historical fiction," Brian Tart, president and publisher of Viking Penguin, told the Tribune-Star by email Wednesday. "His books appealed to everyone because he loved writing stories filled with drama and unforgettable characters. He will be missed by all his readers."

Jakes was also remembered by former colleague Tom Emery, an English professor at DePauw during the years when Jakes returned to the Greencastle campus as a visiting writing professor. Jakes offered his time generously, was easy to work with, and showed patience with the students, Emery recalled. Jakes was also "extremely fond" of his mother in Terre Haute, Emery added.

Jakes' work ethic stood out.

"His normal work schedule was roughly an 8-hour work day, a lot for a writer, but under deadline pressure he would do 12 or 14 hours a day, 7 days a week," Emery said Tuesday. "He was unpretentious but very serious about his work and he was a thorough professional in carrying out his obligations."

Through his life, Jakes absorbed praise with humility. It was "something one just shakes his head at," Jakes said in 2007. He reminded DePauw students that writing "is a business of which luck plays a great part. Writing students don't like to hear that, but it really is."

Spoken like a true Midwesterner and Hautean.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.