New York Times best selling author and former Hilton Head resident, John Jakes, dies at 90
Best-selling author John Jakes, a former Hilton Head Island resident who was a bastion of support for the library and performing arts on the island, died Saturday in Florida. He was 90.
Jakes, who wrote over 80 books, is best known for his historical fiction. Before he moved to Sea Pines on Hilton Head in 1978, he was already the first author to have three books on the New York Times bestseller list in one year, Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of his series “The Kent Family Chronicles.”
He came to Hilton Head from Dayton, Ohio, looking for a calmer, quieter life surrounded by natural beauty.
“I like to wear shorts and I don’t like to wear a necktie and I used to go into a blue funk every December,” Jakes told The Island Packet at the time.
During Jakes’ three decades on the island, he wrote a plethora of acclaimed novels, most notably the “North and South Trilogy,” which followed two families, rice farmers from South Carolina and ironworkers from Pennsylvania before, during and after the Civil War. The series eventually was adapted into a miniseries for ABC starring Patrick Swayze and James Read.
Other books penned by Jakes on the island include “California Gold,” “Homeland” and “American Dreams.”
The novel “Charleston,” which was released in 2002, was his 15th consecutive New York Times bestseller.
Jakes didn’t just spend his time on Hilton Head writing. He was a familiar face at the Rotary Club, community theater, arts center and the Hilton Head public library.
“You could approach him even though he was like a celebrity,” said Mary Jo Berkes, library branch manager. “You might see him in a restaurant, and he would sit and talk to you.”
Jakes and his wife, Rachel, were regular volunteers at the library and lobbied for the library’s move to a larger facility in 1989. Jakes also donated a large amount of money for the newer library, Berkes said.
Jakes also was a supporter of the arts and theater on the island. He directed a readers’ theater, acted, and was a director and board member of the old community playhouse. He then took an active role in pushing for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.
He penned a stage adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” which was written specifically for the playhouse. The adaptation has since been widely produced across the country at various universities and regional theaters including the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Victory Theater of Dayton, and the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theater Training, according to the late author’s website.
In 2010, Jakes left Hilton Head, missing the days when the island was quiet and peaceful.
“It was not a big-bang tourist attraction,” he told the paper in 2010. “It was one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. Everything good about Hilton Head Island was put there by God, or nature, not by a developer or a tourism promoter.”
After leaving the island, Jakes lived out the remainder of his life in Sarasota, Florida.
He is survived by his wife of 71 years Rachel Payne; three daughters and one son; 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
