His story
Jack grew up on a cattle ranch on the Montana plains, where the nearest neighbor was four miles away and the school bus ride took an hour each way. He branded calves before he could drive and still says the best education he ever got came from his grandfather on a fence line.
He joined the Marine Corps out of high school and served as an infantry sergeant. After the Marines he started at a small-town paper and spent thirty years reporting from county fairs, flood zones and state capitols in all fifty states.
He still drives a pickup with more than 400,000 miles on it and stops at every diner he can find.