John Stover

John Stover was born in Brockton, Mass, June 1, 1951, the fourth child of seven. It was in Brockton that Mr. Stover spent his youth at his father’s hotel, The East Oak Hotel, observing men from the Brockton, VA Hospital. Much of Mr. Stover’s writing is culled from these dysfunctional men. As a child, he observed several unexpected, sudden and violent deaths. As a youth of fifteen, Stover was involved in a bazaar accident that took the life of his elderly neighbor. He steadfastly maintains his innocence. The author attended Boston University and later the University of California at Los Angeles, where he took classes in English literature and writing. Stover majored in premed while attending Boston University. He was forced to leave the university after waking up restrained in a hospital straitjacket, the result of a bad LSD trip. On that fateful, chilly evening, the author was picked up by the Boston Municipal Police running naked through the streets of Boston. It was Christmas Eve. That episode pretty much ended any thoughts of an academic or medical career. In 1974, Mr. Stover spent a year hitchhiking around the South, working at various odd jobs, which included hopping freight cars, guessing astrological signs for money and working for local moonshiners and drug dealers. In six months Stover logged over 20,000 miles on his thumb, sleeping under bridges, accepting the hospitality of strangers and living by his wits. Today, this living situation would be described as homeless. In 1973, it was merely living “On the Road.” In 1975 he moved to Nantucket Island and worked for the Nantucket Historical Association. He lectured the public on early American whaling, becoming an expert on scrimshaw and Herman Melville. Later Stover worked at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, where he continued his medical training, driving an ambulance and attending to the critically ill and elderly. In 1976, Mr. Stover moved to California where he worked as a personal assistant to Edward P. Poole, Chairman of the Board of Regents, for the Universities of California and Treasurer of the Democratic Party. He also worked at several of the local area hospitals; UCLA Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital, among others. Stover stayed four years with Edward P. Poole, spending summers with the Pooles on their private island in Hawaii. Some of the guests who spent time on Palm Isle were Jerry Brown, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Meredith Will