April 2021 Notable Author: Gary Jobson

“Every sailor is doing something important at every moment. There is no letup.” – Gary Jobson

Gary Jobson was born (1950) and raised in Toms River, New Jersey, where he excelled in two things; sailing where he was crowned Barnegat Bay’s #1 sailor at age 16 and writing where he became editor of the Toms River High School Paper. He continued both passions at the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College where he won the Men's Singlehanded National Championship in 1972 and 1973 and was editor of the college’s newspaper. His adult life has continued his excellence at these two passions. In 1977, he won the America’s Cup as tactician for Ted Turner in Courageous and his catalogue of books lists 21 with four more under contract. Jobson also continued his studies by attending Graduate School at CW Post College (Political Science) and receiving a Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York and a Doctor of Humane Letters by Lakeland College.

Jobson started his career as a sailing coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and later at the U.S. Naval Academy. Since then, Jobson has authored 21 books on sailing, narrated or produced 1,200 television programs and films, has given over 2,800 lectures, and has competed in 5,700 races. His articles appear regularly in Sailing World magazine, Cruising World magazine, and What’s Up Annapolis. Jobson is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees of Luminis Health and Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. He is Chair of Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County. Jobson spent 31 years with ESPN covering nine America’s Cup events and producing many documentaries. He has covered seven Olympics (including the upcoming Tokyo 2021 Olympics) and an America’s Cup for NBC. For his work in television, Jobson has been presented with two Emmys, four Tellys and an ACE Award.

For many years, Jobson has been actively involved with education, environmental issues and healthcare. From 1993-2017, he served as Chair of the Leukemia Cup Regatta Series, which has raised over $60 million. Jobson spent 15 years on the Board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia. In 2012, the Gary Jobson Professorship of Medical Oncology was established at the University of Maryland Medical School for Dr. Aaron Rapoport. (Jobson survived a two-year battle with lymphoma in 2003-04).

Jobson is a Trustee Emeritus at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a committee member of the Friends of St. John’s College and served on the Fales Committee at the U.S. Naval Academy. He is also a past President of US Sailing, America’s governing body of sailing, and Past Vice President of World Sailing. Jobson was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame (2011) and the America's Cup Hall of Fame (2003) by the Herreshoff Marine Museum. In 1999, he won the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, US SAILING’s most prestigious award.

Gary and his wife, Janice, have three grown daughters and five grandchildren. The Jobsons have lived in Annapolis, Maryland since 1977.

Genre: SPORTSWRITER

A person who writes about sports especially for a newspaper. Specialty: Sailing

Sample Reading List: The Racing Edge with Ted Turner, Legends of American Sailing, Chasing Roosters: A Century of Sailing on Barnegat Bay, Sailing Fundamentals, Championship Sailing.

Writer's Prompt - Fun With Words

MWA invites you to have fun being a sportswriter like Gary. With just 100 words, pick any sport and write about an event or occurrence (real or imagined) in that sport. Remember to answer who, what, where, when, and why.

Submit your 100 words by the 25th of the month and receive an MWA Fun With Words Submission Certificate.  

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