John William Gorman
(Post No. 10) John is the father of Susie, Lindy, and Nancy — an incredibly loving, handsome, funny, and multi-talented man. John was "Daddy" to his three daughters and "Popee" to his seven grandchildren. The third of three children, he was born in San Mateo, California, in 1920 to Edmond Gorman and Ethel Hannberg Gorman. The oldest child was Adeth, born in 1910, and the middle child was Eddie, born in 1918. By all accounts (from his mother), John — who was called “Jackie” as a child — and his brother Eddie were mischievous boys with a penchant for firecrackers and explosive kitchen experiments. They were rough-and-tumble brothers but sweet and affectionate, too.
John acquired a Brownie camera at some point in his childhood and fell in love with photography, teaching himself the basics. He worked at a camera store in San Mateo as a teenager. When he was drafted into the Army during World War II, stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, he was assigned to the Signal Corp as a photographer and it was there that he refined his skills with a camera and darkroom work.
Throughout his two years in the Army, John kept a correspondence with his high school sweetheart, Lydia Riedener. John's family had moved to San Francisco where he attended Balboa High School with Lydia. The two were married in 1944 after his service in the Army. Within five years they had their three children, and John started his 40-year career with the San Francisco Examiner newspaper.
John led a challenging and exciting life in the newspaper business with many unique assignments, beginning in 1945 when he covered the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco for International News Photos, a news syndicate at the time; he traveled to Juneau, Alaska, and to London, England, on special assignments; he spent countless hours in the air, piloting the plane himself, doing aerial photography for the Examiner and others. In addition to years of news coverage, he later photographed every subject under the sun for the Examiner's Sunday California Living Magazine section — architecture, home interiors, fashion, still life, portraits, landscape, and much more. His technical mastery of all subjects was limitless.
John had a "most interesting" assignment he liked to tell — the return of General
Douglas MacArthur at the San Francisco Airport in 1951. In his words: "You may remember
he hadn’t been in the United States since before World War II started and he (seemingly)
single handedly won the war in the Pacific. He was a hero of epic proportions.
"It was night when his plane arrived and the number of press and sightseers must have been
more than the population of California. When Mac stepped off the plane the crowd resembled
a South American soccer riot.
"Somehow, much later as the General's car was inching toward the highway, it stopped next
to me as I was walking to my car. I stuck my head in the driver's window and asked if I
could get a shot of them. Permission was granted. I opened the back door, leaned in and
got one shot of the General, his wife and son, and was then yanked out by a policeman and
was told to get lost.
"That photo turned out to be perhaps the best one made that crazy night. The Examiner used
it all the way across the front page, and the wire services sent it around the world. Moral:
You can have the skill, give me the luck."
John earned many awards — from California Press Photographers Association, San Francisco Press Photographers Association, San Francisco Press Club, Associated Press Photo Contest, United Press Photo Contest, Popular Photography Magazine contests, and others too numerous to mention. He was also an accomplished filmmaker producing sales films, sports documentaries, commercials, public service commercials, and short humorous films that he entered in film festivals.
He loved to document his children and grandchildren growing up on 16mm film, complete with storylines and professional editing; he took hundreds of photographs of them. He was a pilot, an avid golfer, and a published writer many times over in various newspapers and magazines. John loved Hollywood movies, driving a car, riding a bike, and a good joke. He was, most importantly, a devoted husband and father, an excellent provider, and a loving, generous man to his family and many friends. He and Lydia were married for 60 years before his death on Jan. 17, 2005, at the age of 85.
See John Gorman Photography HERE.
COMMENTS:
Johnny - July 10, 2020
WOW!!!!! So good Nancy....I am speechless......thank you...
Nancy - July 10, 2020
Thank YOU, Johnny! I'm so glad you like this! :-)
Al - July 10, 2020
Dear Nancy, My memories of your Dad are limited to the few occasions that I had to be
with him. Two Thanksgiving Dinners and a handful of other chance meetings with him, but always
I came away thinking....what a wonderful man! I miss him almost as much as you do.
Nancy - July 10, 2020
I know he sure liked you, Al! Thanks for the very nice comment here.
Lindy - July 10, 2020
What a great tribute to Daddy. Your family tree blog will be a legacy for our family to
have forever. Thanks Nancy for preserving our family history. Can't wait to see what you
write about me :-)
xo Lindy
Nancy - July 10, 2020
It will be all wonderful stories, Lindy! :-)
Susie - July 16, 2020
Nancy, What a great tribute to Daddy! It was a perfect description of his life and
the man. Miss him so! Thank you!
Nancy - July 18, 2020
Thank you Susie. I'm glad you like it. xoxo
Kendra - July 23, 2020
Popee was amazing!! I love seeing your blog again, Mom!!
Nancy - July 23, 2020
Yes he was!. I'm happy to have the blog back, too. Thank you
for reading it, Kendra :-)