John is one of America’s most well-known and respected parenting experts. His nationally-syndicated newspaper column, one of the longest-running lifestyle columns in the industry (since 1976), is carried in more than 200 newspapers nationwide. John has written fourteen books on parenting and family issues, most of which are best-sellers in the field. Parenting by The Book, published by Howard Books, won the Mom’s Choice Award in 2008. John has also been or is a columnist for Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Hemispheres (the United Air Lines in-flight magazine), and Signs of the Times.
John is the busiest public speaker in his field. In a typical year, he gives 200 presentations on parenting and family issues to parent and professional groups across the USA. John has also been invited to speak in England, Belgium, Istanbul, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Mexico, Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Cyprus, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. His talks are known for being informative, entertaining, and provocative. John’s audiences not only learn, but they also laugh…a lot!
John is licensed to practice psychology by the North Carolina Psychology Board, but retired from full-time private practice in 1990. Since then, although he does the occasional consultation, he has devoted the majority of his time to writing and public speaking. He is proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of parentalrights.org, the mission of which is the enactment of a much-needed parents’ rights amendment to the Constitution.
John says his “real” qualifications are (1) he’s been married to the same woman (Willie) for 42 years, (2) he and Willie have two adult children, Eric and Amy, both of whom are responsible members of society who do not ask for any entitlements, and (3) John and Willie are grandparents to seven well-behaved grandchildren, ranging in age from two to fifteen.
John is one of less than a handful of parenting experts who promote a truly traditional approach to family living. He advocates for adult-centered families in which (1) it is clear that the primary and most active relationship is between husband and wife, (2) parental authority is conveyed to the children in a relaxed, confident manner and understood to be the final word, and (3) children enjoy lots of freedom and lots of family responsibility.
“I’m a man on a mission,” says John. “Through this ministry to America’s families, I am attempting to spearhead a retro-revolution in how families are structured and function. I am absolutely convinced,” he says, “no, make that I absolutely know that although times have changed, traditional parenting still works. In fact, it is the only parenting paradigm that does work for parent, child, marriage, school, community, and culture.”
