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ABOUT THE WRITER
A native Philadelphian, John holds a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA in Health Administration from Temple University. Holding them is about all he’s done with them. He is a father of three: a son with a degree in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh now working in New York, a daughter practicing as a certified massage therapist, and a second son charming the Southern belles with his music (and, one hopes, attending classes) at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. John was a performing singer/songwriter back before the first unplanned pregnancy. By day, a Catholic school teacher, but by night … a Catholic school teacher with a guitar! The onset of his kidney disease, however, forced him to leave teaching and the riotously fat salary he commanded. Within four years, his medical condition had progressed to end stage, and he spent a year and a half on dialysis while attending graduate school fulltime. In August, 1990, he received his MBA degree. In September, 1990, a kidney transplant. He believes the 69,006 pills he’s taken since then give him a story to tell. John lives in Hatboro, PA, one of the only places in America named after an apparel accessory – if you don’t count the Beltway.
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Until the paper died earlier this year, John Shields was a commentary page columnist for the New Hope Gazette and a features writer, both of which put him in the heart, and the tradition, of literary-rich Bucks County, Pennsylvania. A former varsity baseball head coach, he recently marked his 20th anniversary as a kidney transplant recipient. That transforming experience, along with those gained as a teacher, healthcare administrator, stay-at-home dad and frequent guest at area operating rooms, provided a unique frame of reference for his weekly column, titled (oxymoronically) Everyday Things.