John studied law and politics – which is another form of entertainment. And not to let anyone think his antics such as drinking a whole bottle of Worcestershire’s sauce meant he wasn’t mentally “up to it” he went on to join two fraternities, became a BMOC (Big Man On Campus) as an officer of Delta Sigma Pi and as President of The Young Republicans.  He even qualified for Who's Who In American Colleges and Universities, as Tevye says, "Just for show!" 

1963 North Texas State future luminaries in law and politics.

Law school followed, but performing in the same black suit every day for a living lost its appeal. There had to be a more colorful way to earn a living...And as things would have it, a stint with Rauscher Pierce Securities (a stock brokerage) in Dallas took him and his Triumph motorcycle to Wall Street in New York City.

There he discovered THE~STAGE, where he belonged all the time. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts was glad he did and let him graduate at the top of the class, having done all the romantic leads like South Pacific, Most a Happy Fellow and so on. Right after he graduated, Fiddler On The Roof gave him a professional start, and an Equity card, as they toured all over the country.

The tour ended and John decided to go see Mama and Pa, who had by now moved to Grinnell, Iowa where Pa was called to pastor a church. This introduced him to his future wife, Mary, who agreed they ought to try Hollywood, where I was living. Here John quickly fell into several movies, stage productions and TV shows. He even got me into a medieval play about Ostrogoths. At the time, we looked enough alike that some of my Hollywood friends mistook us for the other.

John and Joe theatrical twins	Joel Daniel, NYC artist

Hollywood, and immaturity, can be hard on a marriage, so John and Mary moved back to Iowa.  They adopted Joel Daniel, who has turned out to be no mean artist, occupying a loft in – of all places—New Yawk City.

In Grinnell, John busied himself with a construction business Pa and Tom had started.  He also became a "star" in Grinnell Community Theatre productions of Pippin, Annie, Get Your Gun!, Kiss Me, Kate!, and John's all-time favorite, South Pacific.

News article on Taylor Construction project.

The marriage ended and John came to Texas where I was living in our home town of Crosbyton and beginning to pursue the fossil business in earnest. John, like Tom, was the one who helped me excavate some of my very first fossil sites. He and I took out a very heavy Pliocene steggo mastodon tusk from the Mt. Blanco fossil beds and he helped me clean the first three-toed horse bones from a nearby site.

Three-toed horse leg from Mt. Blanco fossils beds

 

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