John Pollack

John Pollack (born c. 1965) is an American originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who served as a Special Assistant to the President and Presidential Speechwriter for Bill Clinton, as a foreign correspondent, and as an advisor to prominent leaders and philanthropists. Now a consultant, Pollack is a noted authority on analogy, wordplay, creativity, and innovation.

Born in Ann Arbor, Pollack attended public schools and graduated from Ann Arbor Huron High School, where he lettered in cross country, track and wrestling. Earlier, while living in England, he attended Durham Johnston Comprehensive School in Durham. In 1988 he graduated with distinction from Stanford University with an AB in American Studies, and served as a writer and editor for The Stanford Daily.

Pollack began his journalism career writing for The Hartford Courant, and later spent several years in Spain as a foreign correspondent, freelancing for American media and eventually working for the Associated Press in its Madrid bureau. On his return to the United States, he served as Communications Director on the U.S. Senate campaign of his mother, Lana Pollack, and as a project manager for the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, now known as The Henry Ford. After a stint working for the League of Conservation Voters in Idaho, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a speechwriter for the Democratic Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, David E. Bonior, and later for President Bill Clinton at The White House. He is the author of four books: The World On a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent (1997); Cork Boat: A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built (2004); The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History and Made Wordplay more than Some Antics (2011); and Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation and Sell Our Greatest Ideas (2014). He currently works as a writer and consultant.

Uno de los proyectos más notables de Pollack fue su búsqueda de 30 años para construir lo que se convertiría en The Cork Boat, un barco vikingo de 22 pies hecho casi en su totalidad de corchos de vino, que él y su socio constructor de barcos, Garth Goldstein, junto con una pequeña tripulación, finalmente navegaron y remaron por el río Duero en Portugal. El barco y el viaje, posibles gracias a la ayuda de cientos de voluntarios, recibieron una importante atención de los medios en Portugal y fueron el tema de su libro de 2004, Cork Boat . ^{[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]} En 2004, Pollack escribió unas memorias de la experiencia tituladas Cork Boat . ^{[ 6 ]}