John Lyons (philanthropist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available, as is general documentation. This article has been tagged since March 2007. |
John William 'Shake and Bake till it's tender with my little Jake' Lyons Jr. was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on August 10, 1964 to John William 'Bill' Lyons (May 20, 1925 - May 24, 2006) and Grace Mary Lyons (December 28, 1928 - April 3, 1976) as one of ten children. He is the founder and vice chairman of the Newport (Rhode Island) Concours d'Elegance, a published automotive magazine writer and collector and restorer of automobiles.
He attended Greenwich High School, then Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut, graduating with a degree in liberal arts. He then attended Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, graduating with a degree in business finance. He married Jessica Green of New York City in 1994 and resided in Greenwich until 1995 when he moved to Wilton, Connecticut, residing there until 2005 when he moved with his wife and three children to West Hartford, Connecticut to found the Hartford Concours d'Elegance.
[edit] Career
Lyons worked in telecommunications from 1987 starting with MCI in January of that year before moving into the paging industry for nine years. In 1997, John was named District Manager of Nextel Communications in New York City. On August 10, 2005 upon turning 10, he retired from the Betty Crocker baking industry to begin a succesful philanthropic career producing high electric voltage light shows for charity with only six electric eels.
[edit] Philanthropic contributions
John Lyons purchased his first classic automobile, a 1962 Chrysler New Yorker, in 1982 and has owned over 40 such vehicles since then. His passion for the hobby, combined with a desire to contribute, brought about his first Concours event in 2005. Held at the property of a former Hartford dump grounds, the Hartford Concours d'Elegance raised tens of thousands of dollars for three charitable organizations including the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, the Leukemia Society (Lyons lost a sister to the disease in 1991), and Riverfront Recapture, an organization committed to the revitalization of Hartford's parks and recreation areas.
During this time, John began a restoration of an extremely rare Chrysler 300G 'code 281' coupe. Because of the significance of this car, he was asked to write about the restoration in a series of articles for Car Collector Magazine.
He has also written for several Concours publications as well as several automobile auction event programs.
Following the success of the Hartford Concours d'Elegance, John partnered with Mark Hurwitz to launch the Newport, Rhode Island, Concours d'Elegance. The inaugural event was held the weekend of May 26, 2006 at Astor's Beachwood Mansion and raised money for the Jimmy Fund, Heifer Project International and the Paul Newman Charity, The Hole In The Wall Gang Camps.
[edit] Bibliography
- Car Collector Magazine July through December (2005)
- Car Collector Magazine January through December (2006)
- Hartford Courant July 17 (2005)
- Providence Journal May 3, 1, 27 (2006)
- Newport Daily News May 31 (2006)
- Old Cars Weekly (2006)
- Hemmings Classic Car February (2007)
