A deeper look into
JOHN W.THILL
The writer behind A CALIFORNIA LOVE STORY
MEET JOHN
Raised by story makers and storytellers.
John W. Thill was born in Oceanside, California. He was educated in public schools and the Pacific Ocean. He is one of five children raised by Bobbie & Jack Thill.
John attended Oceanside and El Camino high schools in southern California and studied business and speech communication at San Diego State University. Gary Meyerhoff and Kathy Deering (Janecek) are on a short list of his favorite and long-suffering teachers.
During his early years, his father influenced him to take up outdoor activities such as bodysurfing, hunting, and fishing. He is now a wildlife conservationist.
After college, he worked for the Jazzercise corporation and helped establish JM Television Productions.
For 24 years he served in the Hi-Noon Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Carlsbad. These experiences helped him develop lifelong friendships and a new understanding and appreciation for service.
For 19 years Thill worked as a partner in Carlsbad's Personal Strengths Publishing company. He supported and facilitated leadership and team-building courses for organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Indian Health Services, Amazon's Leadership Institute, Harvard's School of Public Health, the University of California Office of the President, and USC's Marshall School of Business.
He is married to Annette Thill and has two daughters, a son-in-law, and a grandson.
John & Ray in Oceanside, CA 1984
Ray Wilcox & family in Oklahoma 1910
Ray Wilcox July 4, 1946 Oceanside beach stadium
A footnote in writing this story
In 1994, best-selling author Victor Villaseñor and I exchanged two letters. In my letter I thanked him for writing his wonderful book “Rain of Gold” and for his family’s long-term friendship with my family.
In his letter Victor encouraged me and wrote; “It is my hope that you take the same remarkable journey I did, searching for the stories of my familia. We don’t know where we are going if we don’t know where we come from.”
Well, I took his letter to heart but I didn’t know it would take thirty-six years to complete my journey. Sometimes it takes a while to understand and complete these things.
