Saying goodbye to John Nova Lomax, a gifted storyteller who died too soon.
"I was really proud of what he did, going back to Texas to live. That's sort of a choice. He went to Houston on purpose," Earle said of John, who he and many of his family called Nova. John even helped out for a bit as a roadie for Earle before leaving to go to Europe and then back to Houston.
"I've known him since he was literally a baby,"the noted performer said, adding that he even helped build John's childhood sandbox. By the time John got to high school “he wasn’t being challenged” at the school he went to in Nashville, his father says, and John moved back to Houston to live with his grandparents, surrounded by aunts and other family members. And to attend Strake Jesuit. A few months ago when John was out of the hospital and living in an Extended Stay America where I visited him, he brought up Strake Jesuit saying he hated it when he started there, but that it saved him. He would go on to travel the world – he lived in a kibbutz with his first wife for a while – and dropped in and out of the University of Texas. His father gave him some liner notes to do, and eventually he returned to Houston and started writing for the, before becoming its Music Editor and then a staff writer at his request. He wanted to expand his writing beyond covering music. We talked about what he was going to do next and he became animated as he talked about putting out a book, a collection of his Sole of Houston columns. He was using a walker then but moved fairly well, though he tired quickly. A few weeks later, all that got set aside as his health worsened and he cycled in and out of Methodist Hospital, finally ending up in the ICU Ward at St. Luke’s in the Med Center attached to too many tubes to count. Previous to this, the last time Lomax III had seen his son he says was in the first months of 2020 before the pandemic got underway. “He was heavy but he was scrambling over rocks,” Lomax III said. During the height of the pandemic , they would talk by phone and John would tell his dad everything was all right. But it wasn’t. By the end of 2022 his condition, which he'd been concealing from the rest of his family, worsened and required medical intervention. Chip Phillips, his stepdad, says one thing he's learned from John's death is the importance of actually seeing someone. Although they too were talking,"I didn’t have eyes on him. Don’t ever take your eyes off your loved ones." Phillips said he was so proud of John's writing."Anyone who knew him, knew they were in the presence of something special, really incredible. He was amazing and a great credit to the city of Houston he loved. And he loved Hermann Park. I don't think God ever created a kinder, gentler, more innocent soul.""I was present when Nova asked one of the doctors on the ICU that was telling him he was dying, what would be listed as the cause of death. The doctor told him cirrhosis. Nova said 'Can we tweak that a little bit?' The doc was being all business at the time and said 'The fact that your liver is not functioning is what is causing your kidneys to fail so yes, cirrhosis.' "Nova said it was just a series of bad decisions. I said so is that what you want listed as the cause of death and he said that would work. Death by a series of bad decisions. "Also we talked about what he wanted to be written on a grave marker. He said 'To Live is to Fly.' Which is a Townes Van Zandt song. Also, he said 'Learn From My Mistakes.'" Brian McManus was among those remembering John for the great help he was to people hoping to become writers. "He opened the door for me. I was a line cook and musician he covered who expressed an interest to him about writing. He gave me a shot, and absolutely didn't have to. Many wouldn't have. From there I contributed to the paper more and more under his guidance and constructive feedback. I got so many reps in under him, by the time I moved to Philly I had managed to cobble together some semblance of a writing career pitching other outlets. He imbued me with the confidence to think that was possible. I honestly thought, through my work for him, that I had what it took. I'd learned from one of the best. There was nothing an editor out East could do to scare me. Love to him and his family and children." Lomax III says they will probably have a quiet family service for his son, followed at some point by a memorial celebration with music. John loved music and his father wants a chance for people to say goodbye. They are also hoping to put out a paperback book of his writings.For Kenneth Page, all that he had built his dreams around vanished in a cloud of Central Texas dust on that terrible day this past March. That was the day his wife, Ardes, loaded up his beloved dog in the truck Kenneth bought her as a wedding present and drove right out of his life.As the story goes on to say, with declining fortunes and a refusal from his wife to return to him, the out-of-work Texan decided he would ride his lawnmower from his home in Thrall, Texas to Florida. Intrigued by this slice of Americana, John proposed to intercept Page on his ride to glory and began tracking media reports as the man rumbled through the Southern heat.contributor Jeff Balke accompanied John on that trip. “It was wild,” he says now. They would ask people along the way if they’d seen the man riding the rattletrap and be pointed in the right direction."Hey Mister Lomax, this is Kenneth Page. I made it through that town, what's its name? Yeah. In other words, I made it over the Mississippi bridge, I made it through Baton Rouge and I'm fixin' to get back on 190 and make it on down the road. I had a little trouble with the po-lice...They kinda got upset that I crossed the Mississippi bridge on a lawn mower, but hey, you know, that's life. Three of 'em were real good about it and one of 'em was kinda crappy. They finally found the lawnmower rider at a gas station in Eunice, where he got his photo taken and was interviewed in person. Balke's memory of the assignment:Art Director Monica Fuentes asked if I was available to drive John Nova Lomax deep into western Louisiana in search of a guy riding a lawn mower, the answer was immediately yes. I had just started doing freelance work for theand had been a long time fan of John’s writing, only recently getting to know him through Cathy Matusow, the managing editor I was dating and would later marry. "It turned out to be pretty much everything I expected. We listened to local Zydeco on AM radio, stopped at farm stands to buy local honey, talked up Cajun characters in auto repair shops, chatted about our lives and families, and laughed a lot. We didn’t make it back to Houston until sundown, exhausted but thrilled with what we found. I had one of the best photos I’d ever take for a cover story and John had yet another tale to tell, like always. I also came to understand that John’s best stories weren’t in written words, but experienced in the moment. I feel very fortunate I was able to share in one of them." It’s comforting to think that wherever John Nova Lomax is right now, he’s chasing some great story across the South tracking a rogue lawnmower driver, sitting in a jail listening to a down-on-his-luck former star or just meeting with people going about their unexceptional lives — which often became exceptional in his hands. Just as his own life was. , it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our"I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The John Wick Franchise Has Killed Its Way to $1 BillionFrom one dead dog to one billion dollars, Mr. Wick's come a long way.
Read more »
Remembering longtime UCLA announcer and radio host Chris RobertsRadio columnist Richard Wagoner looks back at the career of a local legend.
Read more »
Two Stars Won't Collide Into a Red Nova in 2022 After All🔄FROM THE ARCHIVE: We're disappointed, too.
Read more »
Did 'John-John' From 'Sesame Street' End Up On a Sex Offender List?A 2-year-old who appeared on the children's show in 1971 shares a lot of biographical information with a known registered sex offender.
Read more »
Remembering Ray Stevenson’s TV & Film Career In PhotosRay Stevenson died in Italy on Sunday, May 21 at the age of 58. The film and TV actor had credits in titles like Thor: The Dark World, The Three Musketeers, Dexter, Punisher: War Zone, Memory, Kill…
Read more »
John Nova Lomax, who documented Houston and Texas stories for decades, dies at 53In a go-go town, John Nova Lomax coveted a slower and reflective pace telling Houston...
Read more »