Reed said John was not close to his parents, but helped support them financially. Widely credited as a marketing genius, he changed his name to Big John in 1977. His ads won awards, including Modern Tire Dealer’s Best Advertiser in the World. His success was in part due to radio and television commercials, including one where he wore a bridesmaid dress, reclining on a sofa with dirty white socks, saying he doesn’t cheat his women. Big John’s Tire and Muffler eventually expanded to three stores. But Daytona Beach businessman Ray Kessler had just closed a muffler shop and invited John to take it over. in “tireology.”īy 1977 he found himself jobless with his only money a jar of 50-cent pieces. He didn’t go to graduate school, but joked that his career gave him a PhD. John was hired by Firestone Tire Co., and later took a job at Pan American Tire Co. John was proud to have written a 50-page paper analyzing parking problems on the campus, and though he got a D on the paper, it was the impetus behind the construction of two parking garages, he said. He went to Rutgers University and majored in political science, graduating “near the bottom of his class,” according to a story in the News-Journal archives. 20, 1945, he grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey. “Nobody had a lukewarm opinion about him.” New Jersey guy graduated from Rutgers, earned degree in 'tireology'īorn as John W. Yet his disarming sense of humor wasn’t for everybody. “It was nothing to him to hand me a check for $1,000 or $500, and he was always imploring people on the radio to give.” “He was always so generous,” Blackman said. He was an animal lover and invited her on his program regularly for about 10 years, but John was also intrigued with the model of Sophie’s Circle, which is run without administrative costs, so 100% of its donations are used directly to benefit animals. “I would do the radio show with him quite a bit and whenever people started praising him, he would interrupt them and say, ‘We can’t talk dirty on the radio,’” Reed said.Ī mutual friend introduced John to Kathy Blackman, founder and president of Sophie’s Circle, a nonprofit dog rescue and pet food pantry. More: Volusia County School Board will consider hiring Carmen Balgobin as next superintendent In case you missed it: Sosa resigns Deltona commission seat to run for Volusia County Council He had an oversized personality, yes, but he was very humble,” said Mark Reed, a friend who’s known around Daytona Beach as “Mark of the Beach.” People knew him, but they didn’t know everything about him. Those who knew him best say his life evolved into one of service to others, giving large chunks of his air time to promote nonprofit organizations, while helping countless people down on their luck with money or simply a sympathetic ear. “People throw around terms like ‘icon.’ Big certainly was a Volusia County icon,” said Mark Barker, former Holly Hill police chief and author of the popular blog. John, who grew up poor and made a fortune as an outrageous, self-promoting tire and muffler salesman before turning to politics and talk radio, passed on to glory early Sunday. When the beloved people in Big John’s life died, he would say they passed on to glory. View Gallery: Remembering Big John, tire salesman, Volusia councilman, radio host
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |