Earlier this week we lost the glue that held together the enterprise known as Food & Dining Magazine. Here are the details for his visitation.
Family, friends, and all who were touched by John’s warmth and generosity are invited to gather for visitation on February 24, 2026, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Newcomer Funeral Home, 3309 Ballard Lane, New Albany, Indiana 47150.
As human concepts go, the “future” occupies a space near the upper tier of nebulousness. The future doesn’t even exist — until it already has passed. Consequently, if I knew what happens next, I’d be living in a seafront Croatian villa, not Southern Indiana.
In a similar vein, 48 hours isn’t enough to make sense of John’s loss. He constructed a concise universe all his own, and played it like a virtuoso. And, two decades ago, John pulled me into it.
For the first ten years, I contributed beer columns (“Hip Hops”) to the print editions. When I sold out to my partners and exited the beer and pizza business, John quickly announced that I’d be writing about other areas for the magazine.
It was a diktat that I initially rejected with a feeble excuse: “I’m no foodie, John.”
Edibles & Potables: “I got food, but I’m not a foodie” (the 2025 remix)
Maybe not, he replied.
But you’re a writer, and you’ll figure it out.
In short, John wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He understood something about my fundamental skillset that I didn’t, and although I often thanked him often for the insight, it wasn’t possible for this particular writer to find the words to thank him often enough.
Naturally, there was self-interest involved. Honestly, I sold my skills cheaply at the outset, Seriously, one of John’s most endearing qualities was his candor (paraphrased): I’m a cheapskate, but a fair and reliable cheapskate.
Indeed, we always arrived at mutually beneficial accommodations. In the spring of 2019, John asked it I would assume the duties of “digital editor,” a hastily contrived title that meant “post something on the website a few days each week, okay?”
This time it may have been John who didn’t see how well-prepared I was for the task, seeing as I’d spent 15 years blogging...Read more
