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Personal History

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National Lawyer's Guild Los Angeles Chapter Annual Awards-Fundraising Dinner. Also the 80th anniversary of the Guild.

 

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John, who is half Scottish and half Italian, was born in Santa Barbara but spent most of his youth growing up in the San Bernadino area. Between the mid 1970s and 80s John spent time on the East Coast traveling and performing with various music groups before moving to Los Angeles in 1982.

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John earned a J.D. degree from USC Law School in 1991, and worked as a trial lawyer with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office for eleven years. He moved to Santa Barbara in 2002 and decided to put all of his heart and soul back into music, leaving law behind.

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John has been active in causes he supports since his teenage years when he protested the Vietnam War. He is a member of the National Lawyers Guild, the ACLU, Amnesty International, Healthcare–for–All California, Jewish Voice for Peace, The Climate Mobilization, World Business Academy and Democratic Socialists of America; he is vice chair of the Santa Barbara chapter of DSA, and for the past three years has been on the board of the MLK Committee of Santa Barbara. John and his wife Nansie wore out shoes canvassing for Bernie Sanders for both the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections. He also participates in events at the World Business Academy, a think tank headquartered in Santa Barbara.

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25th USC law school reunion. Networking, cocktails, dinner and dancing up a storm.

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John with his daughter Nanda and wife Nansie during their trip to New York in 2019. Nanda is a Vocal Coach at Liz Caplan Vocal Studio in New York.

With David Crosby during a World Business Academy social event.

John has four adult children from previous marriages. (Three of them are professional musicians.). He lives with his two cats Patches and Ellie and his wife Nansie who is a singer/songwriter. They have worked on numerous songs together and both their songs, Nansie's originals and John's original songs are on her CD "Fading Memories" released in 2014. You can hear their songs by going to her website www.nansie.com

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Family Reunion, December 28, 2018 with JP Douglas, JED, Nansie, Walter Douglas, and Lisa Marie Douglas.

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Nansie's CD release Fading Memories at Soho in 2014 with John on keyboard.

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In 2017 John was recognized by the Santa Barbara Independent in their "Local Heroes "award for his many years he contributed to local youth and adults in the area of music

www.independent.com/2017/11/22/santa-barbaras-local-heroes-2017/

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