John Maxwell Coetzee is an author and academic from South Africa (now an Australian citizen living in South Australia). A novelist and literary critic as well as a translator, Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. Coetzee is known as reclusive and eschews publicity to such an extent that he did not collect either of his two Booker Prizes in …

John Jones — John Edward Jones III was born on June 13, 1955 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania and raised in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Jones is a Lutheran of Welsh descent. He has 3 brothers David, Jeff and Jim. He has a share in a business operated by others in his family, Distinct Golf, which runs five golf courses in New Jersey and …

John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1946, Salt Lake City) is an American biologist and businessman. He began his academic career at a community college, College of San Mateo (California), after enlisting in the navy and serving a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. On returning, he received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 1972, and his Ph.D. in …

John Caldwell has been very busy as a cartoonist and humorous illustrator since the early 1970s. He has created many classic cartoons for The National Lampoon; his comic panels have been syndicated internationally by King Features Syndicate and turned into a cartoon-a-day desk calendar; his book of faxable cartoons and messages, Fax This Book, has been a great success and …

John Adams family had been in America for generations when he was born on October 30, 1735. His father was a farmer who had been Harvard educated. He taught his son to read before he entered school under Mrs. Belcher. He quickly moved into Joseph Cleverly’s Latin school and then studied under Joseph Marsh before becoming a student at Harvard …

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — Generally recognized as one of the greatest and most versatile European writers and thinkers of modern times, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born on Aug. 28, 1749, died on Mar. 22, 1832, profoundly influenced the growth of literary ROMANTICISM. Best known for his lyrical poetry, for the far-reaching influence of his novels, and particularly for his …

Joey Cheek — William Joseph Cheek was born on June 22, 1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is an American speed skater and former inline speed skater. He specializes in the short and middle distances. Accomplishments Cheek’s breakthrough was in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he won the bronze medal in the 1,000 meters and just …

Joe Kohl — Many cartoonists include humorous illustration as one element of a multi-faceted career. Joe Kohl creates gag cartoons for magazines, does color illustrations for many different publications and advertising agencies, creates comic designs for T-shirts and beer mugs, writes and draws greeting cards, and is the author of two cartoon collections, Marital Bliss and Other Oxymorons and Unspeakably …

Jimmy Wales — Jimmy Donal Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, in the U.S. on August 7, 1966. He attended Randolph School, a university-preparatory school, then earned bachelor’s degree in Finance from Auburn University. Wales then entered the Ph.D. finance program at the University of Alabama before leaving with a master’s degree to enter the Ph.D. finance program at Indiana …

Jim Sinegal — James D. Sinegal is co-founder and CEO of Costco, an international low-price membership retail chain and the largest U.S. wholesale club, headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, U.S. He was born January 1, 1936 into a Catholic working-class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Helix High School in La Mesa, California. He earned an AA at San Diego City …