Today we’d like to introduce you to J.B. Blocker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us J.B. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in Kobe, Japan. My DNA results say that I am Japanese/Korean on my mother’s side and Irish/French/German on my father’s side. My mother Nobuko was a Geisha who was raped by a sailor. In the post-Korean War days, most children in these situations were aborted. My mother chose to have me but my grandfather would not accept me so I was sent to an orphanage. Nobuko took a job in the beauty salon at the Navy base in Yokohama where she sought an American who would adopt me.
At age 5, the Blockers visited my orphanage but only wanted a baby boy and girl. Mrs. Blocker knew of me because my mother was not interested in an older child. On that day, a young boy decided he was not wanted because he didn’t have nice clothes and hid in the girls housing.
Mr. Blocker promised some new clothes in order to meet me. When they found out my name, Mrs. Blocker explained how she knew my mother. At that point, Chief Charles Blocker decided that I was to be his new son.
My new father retired to Sunray, Texas as the Master Chief of the Navy. He was a Silver Star recipient and lay minister who memorized as much of the New Testament as he could before he passed. From the beginning, he would teach me the Pledge, the Anthem, and parts of the Constitution while we polished brass and leather. He modeled his sermons after Billy Graham.
My mother Nancy was a small town, Martha Stewart. She had a Handicraft Shoppe so I was required to learn all the current crafts including pouring molds, painting, sewing, knitting, and even a bit of macrame and crochet. She had a news radio program, Sunray News with Nancy Blocker for 10 years on KDDD in Dumas and hand wrote 3 cookbooks. Of course, I was taught to cook, bake, and keep a clean kitchen. She published ‘Pearls in the Sand’ a Bible study guide taken from years of notes and drawings. When I misbehaved, I was given the Bible verses to memorize. When I first cursed, probable GoshDarn, I had to quote the 3rd Chapter of James on the tongue before I could eat with the family. I am an exceptional Bible student and especially ancient history in a relationship with Bible history.
I stuttered in my youth. My mother went out of her way to keep me in voice lessons. In one case, I found that she was cleaning my teacher’s house in exchange for the lessons. I was ashamed. As a teen, she drove me 20 miles twice a week for an advanced teacher and waited tables at night.
I learned Italian arias. I can still sing many including some German and Russian. My classmates began calling me a Whopanese.
My first job was hoeing corn at 13. By 15 I had a tractor drivers license to help our family friends. I worked at the local lumber yard/ hardware store for the mayor and JP after school through high school. During the summer I worked cattle at the local feedyard.
Our local one man news paper was injured and my mother volunteered me help him clean and print. He taught me to develop film and was given a camera and my own by line as the school reporter. I often earned more than my teachers. I also got my radio DJ license as a Ding Daddy from Dumas to fill in for my mother at times.
If I came home and said I had entered a competition, my mother would set time every day for practice. I won many UIL events including All-Region in Choir, Poetry Interpretation, Ready Writing, Prose Reading, Number Sense, and Slide Rule. I was raised to be an overachiever.
I went to Lubbock Christian on partial music/track/academic scholarships but because I played guitar and sang at local bars for my money, I was dropped and finished at Texas Tech. To earn a living there I became the youngest District Agent for Prudential in the Nation and earned all the insurance alphabet soup FLMI, LUTCF, and CLU becoming the Manager of the Year and Hall of Fame for American Amicable by age 27.
My love has always been reading, writing, and listening to elders tell their stories. I have written dozens of songs, reams of poetry, and many short stories in the form of biographies.
When I moved to McKinney 10 years ago, I helped the mayor run for office. On the next cycle, several others hired me. Since then, I have been a consultant for over 200 candidates mostly writing their bios and guiding their social media. Mayors, council, judges, sheriffs, and many other candidates have hired me.
The Attorney General has encouraged me to write my prison memoirs titled ‘Pardon Me’. I have several ongoing books including philosophy, western history, and a collection of short story bios on Texas Rangers and Sheriffs.
I consider myself an example of President Trump’s prison redemption.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
From a rag wearing half breed orphan to spending my teen years in a North Texas farming community during the Vietnam Was as the only Asian where no Blacks have lived. I had to fight or hide even up to my last day before leaving after my senior trip.
I have been beaten, swindled, and deceived. I married a horrible liar at 21 and we had one daughter. I have never remarried, but have a close relationship with my child, her husband, and 3 children.
I tried investing in my own oil well and was swindled so when Roseanne Barr discovered me at an amatuer night, she took me on tour as the emcee. That lasted 6 months. I am not prone to overuse of alcohol or drugs and consider myself to be respectfully moral. The entertainment life led me in a direction I didn’t want to go. Ironically, I friended a former Playmate and stripper. When she came to visit me in Amarillo, I took her everywhere to show her off. Because we went to two parties where she sold a gram of speed both times, I was charged with Conspiracy to Deliver and given 15 years as an accomplice.
After 2 1/2 years in prison, I have held many jobs. I ran a restaurant chain, sold cars where I was promoted all the way to G.M., reported on food and sports for local papers, consulted for multiple foods and hospitality chains including Whole Foods, Fairmonts, 7-11, and Pizza Hut. I even acted as owner’s rep for a minor league baseball franchise.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am currently consulting for a Korean Development Group, the Texas Bullet Train, and continue to write restaurant profiles and professional bios. I was included in the North Texas Council for the Texas Rangers Heritage Foundation and am heavily involved with the Border Sheriffs Coalition, the Sheriffs Associations of Texas, and the National Association.
I maintain two blogs: Lonestarreporter.com is law enforcement related; NorthTexasReporter.com includes some of my favorite bios, food-related stories, and whatever else interest me.
I am arguably as roundly connected and experienced as anyone who doesn’t seem to care about financial success.
What were you like growing up?
Because I was always an outsider, I have always been driven to be better than expected and certainly to be highly competitive. I have read hundreds of books in most genres and normally keep three different books going. During prison, I was called Preacher by the man who raped rapist and eventually many other inmates.
An old cowboy roasted some coffee over a campfire when I was a teen. Since then, my culinary interest has been a total immersion into coffee. I have been known as the Caffeine Cowboy since ’94.
The publisher of Fresh Cup would say that I am the most well-rounded coffee expert to her knowledge. I understand the agriculture, the roasting, and the preparations.
I even carry a home roaster and usually a dozen varieties of coffees in my Yukon.
Contact Info:
- Website: LoneStarReporter.com or NorthTexasReporter.com
- Phone: 469-334-9962
- Email: jbnorthtexas@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Nobuko Yoshimi, the Blocker family, orphanage, the ride from the orphanage
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
