John was born in Sumter County, Georgia, to Carrie Beatrice Worsham and William Wicker Pennington. He served in World War II; graduated from the University of Georgia, where he was editor of the RED AND BLACK; and began his journalism career in the 1950s AND 1960s with what is now the ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION. Not only did he win many awards for investigative stories on Georgia prison reform and school desegregation, but he also exposed election fraud that threatened to deprive Jimmy Carter of a state senate seat. In the 1970s John wrote for the ST. PETERSBURG (FL) TIMES, and he died of cancer in that city in 1980.