John Mark Eberhart
Booted from Boy Scouts, shown the door at certain concert venues, kicked out of The Kansas City Star — was there ever any doubt John Mark Eberhart was a miscreant? Of course not; he was born an outlaw, or at least near one — his birthplace in St. Joseph, Missouri, lies less than a mile from the house in which Jesse James was shot to death by the coward Robert Ford.
Still, he fooled ‘em for awhile, winning a couple dozen journalism awards during his days as a newspaperman, first as environmental reporter for the now-defunct Baton Rouge State-Times, then as book review editor for The KC Star.
Along the way, he met, covered or interviewed some interesting people, including three presidents (Carter, Bush as in G-Dub, Clinton), an Eagle (Joe Walsh), a blues demigod (Buddy Guy), a future Secretary of State (Hillary) and more authors than you can shake a soon-to-be-pulped-for-paper stick at, including Margaret Atwood and David McCullough.
Eberhart has several apparently incurable obsessions: kayaking, hiking, target shooting (he’s wicked with a revolver), jazz, rock, blues, sick/twisted movies, and, more recently, fashion (he’s been seen hanging around with the founders of the Men’s Style League). Watch for his KC Confidential posts on looking good and being seen in your better bars and clubs about town.
