John d nichols biography

John David Nichols

Benton County

JOHN DAVID NICHOLS was born in Leeds county, Canada, July 22, 1834; he died at Vinton, Iowa, June 20, 1909. When a boy he was apprenticed for seven years to a wagon maker. Finishing his trade before his time had expired, he purchased his release, and was for a time a sailor on the lakes. He studied for the ministry, and was ordained and preached for several years. He came to Henry county, Iowa, in 1857, where he resided until 1863, when he removed to Urbana, Benton county. In 1870 he removed to Vinton, where he studied law with Traer and Gilchrist, and was admitted to the bar in 1872, forming a partnership with Robert St. Clair. He remained in active practice until 1897, the later years of which were in partnership with his son. He served as school director and as mayor of Vinton, and was a member of the Iowa Senate from Benton county in the 17th, 18th and 19th General Assemblies.

American novelist (1940–2023)

John Treadwell Nichols (July 23, 1940 – November 27, 2023) was an American novelist. He wrote the New Mexico Trilogy - The Milagro Beanfield War (1974), The Magic Journey (1978), and The Nirvana Blues (1981) - as well as numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction.

Early life

Nichols was born in Berkeley, California, in 1940.^[1] He was the grandson of ichthyologistJohn Treadwell Nichols and a first cousin of Massachusetts politician William Weld.^[2] His mother, who died when Nichols was two years old, was from France but spent much of her childhood in Spain.^[1] He moved frequently as a child, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1962.^[1]

Writing career

Fiction

After graduating, he lived in Spain with his grandmother, where he wrote his first novel, The Sterile Cuckoo, which was published in 1965.^[1] He lived in Guatemala in the mid-1960s.^[1] This period was heavily influential on his political development. The Associated

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