Dr. John C. McAdams, one of the world’s foremost experts on the JFK assassination, has died unexpectedly at the age of 75. A friend and champion of this blog, Dr. McAdams was considered by me and others to be the “Dean” of lone assassin researchers. As such, he was known to help researchers on both sides of the JFK debate. Fred Litwin, author of two books on the JFK case, expressed the feelings of many by noting, “He patiently went through articles, and manuscripts, and always had ideas for improvements. His book, JFK Assassination Logic, is a manual on how to think about evidence and conspiracy.”
Dr. McAdams’ website, which is hosted by Marquette University where he was an Associate Professor of Political Science for nearly 45 years, was his pride and joy and contained his work as well as the efforts of other experts in the JFK field. His site was recommended by no less than PBS as an authoritative source of information. Dr. McAdams founded his website in 1995, which was about the time that he began to appear in debates on Internet forums. He ran his own Usenet forum for many years called alt.assassination.jfk which could be accessed through Google Groups. Additionally, he actively participated in a private email group managed by noted researcher Paul Hoch.
Dr. McAdams was a frequent guest on radio and television programs and was sought out by print journalists for his opinion on JFK matters. In 2011, he participated in an oral history for the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. In 2013, he appeared in the PBS Nova presentation of Cold Case JFK. Dr. McAdams ran a personal blog called Marquette Warrior and was active politically in several capacities including as a writer for the conservative Heartland Institute. Dr. McAdams was the author of two books-the aforementioned JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think About Claims of Conspiracy and the non-JFK title The New Class in Post-Industrial Society which was published in 2015.
Dr. McAdams was born in Kennedy, Alabama. In the late sixties, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Alabama. In 1970-71, he received a master’s degree in Social Studies Education at Columbia University. He completed his Ph. D in Political Science at Harvard University in 1981. He taught at both Harvard and Boston University before moving to Marquette. Simply put, his death is an incaluable loss for all JFK researchers.
Resources
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Obituary
Article on McAdams and the Cheryl Abbate Matter
John McAdams: The Kennedy Assassination
John McAdams' Review of Faustian Bargains
John McAdams' Review of JFK and the Unspeakable
John McAdams' Review of The Road to Dallas
David Von Pien-Radio Debates Featuring John McAdams
Born in the late forties?
ReplyDeleteHe was born in 1945 and was reportedly 75 years old-he would have turned 76 this year.
DeleteA loss for all those interested in the history of the JFK assassination. I hope that someone can step in to continue or at least preserve his essential website, and the google group he moderated.
ReplyDeleteThe "serious students" of the Kennedy assassination turn out to be Pease, Hargrove, Mantik, et al. Not impressive at all as critics of McAdams. As for Charnin, he takes Marr's list of "mysterious deaths" seriously; even more unimpressive than the others.
DeleteI had only known him for a short time before his death and although we were at opposite ends of the political spectrum he has my total respect and in at least one occasion I had to defend him from online attacks against him due to his JFK work. RIP.
ReplyDelete