PART 1 OF 3: No Plans to Retire – The Overlapping Careers of John J. Nance
A CNL2 VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Video directed by: Dave Schnuckel
Audio Engineer: Jeremy Tyler
Written summary written by: Jeff Noedel
The San Juans are home to some of the most interesting people in the world. John J. Nance is one of them.
This is the first of a three-part interview of a humble, good-humored and brilliant man who is also our neighbor. It’s also the story of a person who became comfortable with enormous responsibility in several national and international fields.
The conversation starts with asking if our guest — a Dallas native — is any relation to the famous John Nance Garner, 32nd Vice President of the United States under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The gregarious politician also known as “Cactus Jack” was from Uvalde County, Texas. Uvalde County is a six-hour drive south of Dallas.
John has excelled in multiple overlapping careers:
- A newspaper journalist and Dallas “Top 40” FM radio station news announcer who did a bit of disk jockeying, too
- A military pilot who served in Vietnam and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel
- A commercial airline pilot for two national passenger careers, including Seattle’s Alaska Airlines
- An attorney
- Author of 22 books, including some New York Times Best Sellers
- A lecturer well known in the medical field
- But John J. Nance is most famous as the on-air aviation analyst for ABC News. When unspeakable accidents happen in aviation, the nation and indeed the world have turned to John to explain what went wrong. In that hot seat, there is no room for error. Today, many other journalists cover the airline beat, but John J. Nance was at the tip of the spear in the early 1990s, stepping into that somber role — weaving together all he knew as a journalist and a pilot.
At (2:00) minutes into discussion, we talk briefly about humor, including the very limited opportunities for humor in the cockpit of a commercial airline.
(4:00) John is asked, “When were you first bit by the aviation bug?” John flies us through his pilot career with the Air Force (flying in Vietnam) to years with Braniff Airlines, and then with Alaska Airlines. One of the highlights of his career, he shares, was being first officer on a single flight of a 747.
(14:20) John recalls his career in broadcasting in Dallas in the early 1960s. He samples for us a couple of his radio voices, including a credible Jimmy Stewart.
(16:30) His career as an on-air aviation analyst began with CBS Television in the mid 1980s. But before long, he was hired by ABC Television News, where he regularly appeared with Good Morning America host Charles Gibson, and from time to time ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings. While many of John’s appearances were remotes, he often appeared on the New York City (Times Square) studio of Good Morning America.
(21:40) Having become famous for discussing the role of human error in aviation, John was invited to apply the same findings as they apply to the field of medicine. And a speaking career took off.
(23:45) The cable network series named Mayday — in which John appeared as the on-air analyst — is commended to viewers. Those episodes can be found on YouTube.
This CNL2 video is approximately 26 minutes in duration.
