The great John Paul (Jack) Jones passed away on Friday, November 20, 2020, in Memphis.

Jack was 100 years old, surpassing King Lear in age by 20 years and in wisdom by immeasurable degrees.

As thousands of people have the privilege to say today: Jack was a friend.

He was a founding member of Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s Board of Directors, serving from 2009-2015; and he remains an Emeritus Board member.

Jack loved William Shakespeare.  He helped us get a foothold in Memphis, and then he and his extraordinary wife Sandra and his family supported our wide-eyed efforts to establish the first professional, classical theatre ever in the Mid-South.

Jack also loved helping children and teenagers here.  He supported thousands through his love of basketball, our Grizzlies, our Tigers, and The Jack Jones Shootout.  He and his family also supported Memphis school children through TSC’s Gala over the years.

Because of Jack, Sandra, and the entire Jones family, TSC’s Education and Outreach Program now serves 35,000 children annually with innovative programming that is nationally renowned.  This pleased Jack very much.

Of many fond memories of Jack, our favorite is of him rising from his dinner table at a restaurant in 2009 during the general hubbub of merriment at one of our first Shakespeare Dinners.  He began to speak.  In a rare occurrence, this event was captured by our photographer (pictured above).

Jack, without prompting or a script, rang out over the din with Macbeth’s entire speech that begins, “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,…”

Jack loved the verse’s perfect rhythm, and he thought everyone should know it – indeed know as much Shakespeare as possible, because the words shape our lives, thoughts, and discourse.  As you might imagine by Jack’s esteemed age, he clearly knew life in this time signified much, and that he was here to make a positive difference — to ease the pain of so many other lives, to lift the spirits of so many children, and to shine a light equally on all the news of the day to ensure an informed citizenry.

The name Jack Jones is synonymous with Legacy.  May we all aspire to his selfless greatness.

In addition to Shakespeare, Jack loved education programming and athletics for young (particularly disadvantaged) children, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Memphis Tigers, the University of Virginia and UVA basketball, Thomas Jefferson, and his loving wife Sandra.  Not in that order.

After graduating from Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia Law School in 1948, Jack joined the Memphis law firm of Wrape and Hernly, with offices in Washington, DC.  He later went into private practice, where he specialized in interstate commerce transportation and labor law.  In 1960, he became publisher of the Memphis Daily News that has published since 1886.  Jack retired from the practice of law in 1992.  A lifelong resident of Memphis, he was a president of the Tennessee Press Association, the American Court and Commercial Newspapers, Inc., and also a past member of the Memphis Literacy Council.  In addition to TSC, Jack was a board member of the Benjamin C. Hooks Library, the Rock n’ Soul Museum, and a founder of the Memphis Economic Club.