The Real Jack Daniels

Wed, Nov 1st 2023 at 12:40 pm - 2:00 pm

Jack Daniels told how his attitude to life helped him explore many parts of the world and deal with dangerous situations.

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Undeterred by seriously bad weather, members of the Club flocked to this week’s meeting to hear their own member, Jack Daniels, speaking about his life and times. Knowing Jack well, they knew they would be well entertained- and they were not disappointed. Brought up in a small farm in Southern Ireland, one of the many that emerged after the big houses were burnt down during the troubles in the 1920s, Jack now realises how much he has drawn on his comparatively modest background in later life- what might have been seen as a disadvantage became much more of a strength. Touching on his school-days, he reflected on how much he agreed with his Latin teacher that Cicero had got it completely wrong when praising the merits and virtues of old age- these were not at all apparent to Jack! Old age often brings loneliness, described as the greatest undiagnosed illness in the world. Before coming to St Andrews in the 1960s Jack worked as a trainee journalist for the Irish Times and also involved himself in Liberal politics in England, standing as Liberal candidate for Luton.He did not win! He had the good fortune to meet Jo Grimond, then leader of the Liberal Party and another great St Andrean. While in St Andrews Jack was able to travel extensively, often recruiting students from foreign parts. He visited countries which previously had been ‘off limits’ -Latvia ,Lithuania and Estonia, Armenia and Turkmenistan. Conversely, other countries previously free to visit such as Iran and Russia suddenly became 'off limits’. Jack’s message was very much ‘carpe diem’ -take the opportunity to travel when you can. His talk was laced with many amusing stories and interspersed with words of wisdom to fellow travellers. Ian Hamilton ( the Younger) thanked Jack warmly.