John (Jack) Vanek was born and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He received his bacheloras degree from Case Western Reserve University, where his passion for creative writing took root. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester, did his internship at University Hospitals of Cleveland, and completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic.
While practicing medicine for a quarter century, his interest in writing never waned. He began honing his craft by attending creative writing workshops and college courses. At first writing solely for himself and his family, he was surprised and gratified when his poems won contests and were published in a variety of literary journals and magazines. He has since published four dozen poems, and been invited to read his work at the George Bush Presidential Library in Texas, the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, and Eckerd College in Florida. His poem, aThe Peopleas Republic, a was inducted in 2002 into the permanent collection of the George Bush Presidential Library, and reprinted in Red, White and Blues: Poets on the Promise of America by the University of Iowa Press.
When not reading or writing, he spends his time swimming, boating, and hiking in Sandusky, Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida.