June 2, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — John Jakes, bestselling author and 1953 graduate of DePauw University, has been elected to the Van Wezel Foundation's board of directors. Based in Sarasota, Florida, the foundation's mission is "to enrich lives of members of the Gulf Coast community, with an emphasis on children, through the performing arts while supporting the needs of the Van Wezel -- the region's premier performing arts hall."
News of Jakes joining the board is noted in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
John Jakes has been called America's "godfather of the historical
novel" by the Los Angeles Times. He has sold more than 50 million books, including 18 consecutive New York Times 
bestsellers and became the first author to have three books on the Times' list of top-selling books in a single year with The Kent Family Chronicles. His other books include On Secret Service, American Dreams, Savannah and the North and South trilogy, which was adapted into an Emmy Award-winning television miniseries in 1985.
"DePauw's goal, it seems to me, is to provide the best possible four year liberal arts education, but also an awareness of how much more there is to learn," Jakes said in the commencement address to DePauw's Class of 1995. Learn more in this article.