Jack R. Gannon

Jack Randle Gannon (November 23, 1936 – March 14, 2022) was an American author and historian of Deaf culture. Deaf since age eight, he had chronicled the history and culture of Deaf people and organizations around the world, most notably in his 1981 book Deaf Heritage. Gannon was an educator at the Nebraska School for the Deaf and served for many years in administrative roles at Gallaudet University. Rosalyn Faye Lee and Jack R. Gannon, from a 1957 publication

Early life and education

Jack Gannon was born in West Plains, Missouri, on November 23, 1936. His family moved to Richmond, California during World War II, where his parents worked in the shipyards. Gannon became deaf at age eight after becoming ill with spinal meningitis. He enrolled in the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley. While in Nebraska Gannon served as president of the Nebraska Association of the Deaf and as the editor of The Deaf Nebraskan.

In 1968 the family returned to the Washington, D.C. area and Gannon became the Executive Secretary of the Gallaudet College Alumni Association. Deaf Heritage is considered a classic and cornerstone of Deaf cultural history. In 2011 he published a history of the World Federation of the Deaf featuring achievements of the Deaf community and national organizations of the Deaf around the globe. His autobiography, Get Your Elbow Off the Horn, was published in 2020.

Honors and legacy

Gannon was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Gallaudet University in 1988.

In 2011 Jack and Rosalyn Gannon received the International Solidarity Merit Award, First Class from the World Federation of the Deaf. National Association of the Deaf President Bobbie Beth Scoggins described the couple as a "dynamic duo whose commitment and perseverance enlighten the world about the history and accomplishments of the Deaf community both in the United States and globally".

Gannon was selected in 2014 as one of Gallaudet's "Visionary Leaders," fifteen prominent alumni honored to celebrate the university's 150th anniversary.

In their retirement, the Gannons lived on an 18th-century farmhouse in New Market, Maryland.