John was born in 1973 in San Antonio, Texas, and educated at Texas Christian University, and, lately, the University of Colorado at Boulder.

A former military affairs and national security reporter for the Albuquerque Journal and the Associated Press, his experience includes covering 9-11, walking the halls of CIA headquarters, and racing through Baghdad and Kabul in military convoys. He may also be the only person who has had a drink with both Donald Rumsfeld and Steve-O from Jackass (but, to be clear, not at the same time).

Now a writer and teacher, he lives outside of Boulder, Colorado, with his wife Alice, their daughter Charlotte and son Theo. His professional and personal travel includes trips to Afghanistan, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

He may be contacted here.