John Barker, Patch Staff

Hometown: Clinton, Iowa

Birthday: August 24.

John Barker returns to Patch after nearly a three-year absence. He was the founder of Douglasville Patch in 2010 and will now be covering a much wider area, including Douglasville, Dallas-Hiram, Logansville-Grayson, Dacula and Cumming, among other Georgia areas.

During his absence, John spent time as a public affairs specialist for both the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

He grew up in a small town in Iowa and served as a photojournalist in the Army for eight years.  John served in Germany, West Point and Korea. He earned several military photojournalism awards including the Keith L. Ware Award and the Thomas Jefferson Award for a first-place entry for stories supported by photos. While a military photojournalist, John covered thousands of stories, including the Presidents of the United States Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush. He attended several military journalism and editor programs at the Defense Information School and was accepted, through portfolio, to attend the Army Advanced Photojournalism Course, held at the University of South Carolina. After serving in the Army, he worked as a writer and photographer for major daily newspapers like the San Antonio Express-News. He's also been an editor of several weekly newspapers in Texas and Georgia, including in Paulding and Douglas Counties.  Owner of River City Images Portrait Studio for many years,  John has used his photojournalism skills to photograph hundreds of weddings. He is married to Marina, his German-Italian wife.

Politics: I am not registered with any political party and strive to vote for the most qualified candidate.

Local Hot-Button Issues: I believe strongly in the arts and their importance in the community.