John Jay Hooker has been a long-time Tennessee political gadfly. He has always been an advocate for some hot button issue - but rarely if ever an election winner at the polls. In circumstances I don't begin to understand, Hooker was elected as chairman of STP in 1973 as the successor to Andy Granatelli.
He was in victory lane with Richard Petty a few times in 1974 - including the Daytona 500 when the King won it for the 5th time on February 17, 1974.
Hooker served as STP's CEO for a couple of years before resigning in early 1976. I can't help but snicker at this writer's description of Hooker as "quiet and unassuming" - but perhaps he was when cast against the personality of Granatelli. - St. Petersburg Times
Over the weekend, I read where John Jay has learned he has terminal cancer. He says his last political fight will be over yet another controversial subject - but one that often elicits empathy from many - Death With Dignity.
From:
http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/columnists/frank-daniels/2015/02/15/death-dignity-john-jay-hooker-final-fight/23378411/
John Jay Hooker knows intimately what it is like to lose.
As he ruefully, but with a quirky pride, will regale his audiences, whether that be one person or hundreds, "I am the biggest loser in the history of Tennessee politics." His infectious laugh hides the fact that he still harbors a competitive fire at age 84 that younger politicians should envy.
He desperately wanted to be governor of Tennessee, but was defeated by a political newcomer, Winfield Dunn, in 1970. It was his best chance, and one that he believed would have set him on a path to become President of the United States.
In November, Hooker made his final gubernatorial bid, garnering only 2 percent of the vote and finishing third. He had hoped to use his campaign to stump for the defeat of Amendment 2, a constitutional change that would strip Tennessee voters of their right to elect appellate court judges. He lost that battle too.
The morning after the elections, John Jay and I talked briefly about our take on the way Tennesseans seemed so willing to hand over their independence to the legislature and governor, but he had something more important to talk about.
'Ultimate civil right'
"What do you think about euthanasia?" he asked.
I want Tennesseans to have the right to choose how they die, he said, and I want that to be the legacy I leave.
"It is the ultimate civil right," John Jay said, "to be able to die with dignity, while you still have some choice in the matter."
Only three states Oregon, whose citizens passed a law in 1994 and re-confirmed the vote in 1997; Washington, whose voters passed a law in 2008; and Vermont, whose legislature enacted a doctor-assisted suicide law in 2013 allow terminally-ill citizens to choose when they die.
Hooker knows that it will be a difficult fight, but wants Tennessee to be the fourth state.
'I have standing'
On Jan. 6, John Jay told me that he was going to see the doctor about a lump on his arm.
A few days later, he told me the grave news.
"It's malignant melanoma, and it's terminal," he said. He was in surprisingly good spirits.
"Well," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, "I have standing."
John Jay was referring to his frequent battles in Tennessee courts over the constitutionality of the way we used to choose appellate judges, and how the Attorney General would argue that Hooker had no standing before the court.
Last week, Hooker began telling friends that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and that he wanted to dedicate his remaining months to passing a Tennessee Death with Dignity law, and suing for the right to choose the time of his death.
Thursday, Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, filed a caption bill to start the process in support of Hooker's effort. Fitzhugh is a deacon in his Baptist church and has deep misgivings about death with dignity laws, according to his chief policy advisor, Zachary Kelley.
But, Kelley said, Fitzhugh's respect for Hooker and his fights on behalf of civil rights outweighed the minority leader's personal feelings.
'Engaged, and vital'
Passing the legislation will be a long shot, but Hooker would not know what do to with an easy battle anyway.
"I want to be engaged, and vital, and when I can't be engaged in the debate, then it will be time for me to go," John Jay says. "And I want to be able to make that choice when the time comes."
I sat with John Jay at a dinner recently, when he spoke publicly about his illness and about what had become his passion.
He is a masterful storyteller, but I have not seen him capture a group the way he did that evening. There were few dry eyes as John Jay Hooker talked with raw sincerity about how he wanted to spend his future however long that may be.
Reach Frank Daniels III at 615-881-7039 and on Twitter @fdanielsiii.
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
