John Tate (Jack) Appleby was a biographer of English kings of the 12th & 13th Centuries. He was also an associate editor of the American Historical Review.

Jack was born in Arkansas, the son of George Appleby and Gertrude (Baylor) Appleby. He had four siblings, all sisters, Mildred Elizabeth (Joe D.) Mitchell, Marian (A. W.) Manlove, Annis Adell (John A.) Fogleman and Helen Virginia (Paul) Young.

The family owned several orchards and canning factories in NW Arkansas.

He never married and had no children

He went to University High School in Fayetteville, graduating in the class of 1923. He attended Harvard University from 1925 to 1928, obtaining an A.B. degree in English, cum laude. He also studied at the Sorbonne in France.

Jack worked as a newspaper reporter in Europe and on the East coast. He served as a trainer in 'Celestial Navigation' for the Eighth Air Force. He was stationed at two bases in Suffolk, England and served in the Army Air Corps from June, 1942 to November, 1945.

His memoir of the WWII events became a 1948 book, "Suffolk Summer". It has proved to be very popular and has never gone out of print. He wrote, “The English landscape at its subtlest and loveliest is to be seen in the County of Suffolk. I can say this with dogmatic certainty because it is the only county in England that I can pretend to know. Furthermore, the people of Suffolk themselves tell me this, and I know it must be so.”

He returned to Fayetteville after WWII. He took over the operation of his family's orchards. He also started in earnest to write.

Jack authored several biographies of British monarchs. In 1953, he translated the Latin text of the 'Close and Patent Rolls', the private letters and public announcements of the reign of King John's (1199–1216). He went on to write about King Stephen; King Henry II and King Richard I. He also wrote short stories and book reviews in the New Statesman & Nation, Partisan Review and Washington Post.

In 1959, he was named 'Membership Secretary' of the American Historical Association.

He served as 'Associate Editor' at the American Historical Review's Journal. He worked at their offices in Washington D.C.

He was a member of the Pipe Roll Society and Monumental Brass Society.

Jack died due to leukemia. His remains were returned to be buried among his family in Arkansas.

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Royalties from his first book, "Suffolk Summer" were donated for maintenance of the Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds's Gardens. Today, the 'John Appleby Rose Garden' there, was named in his memory.

Source: Find a Grave

From the American Air Museum Britain website: John Tate Appleby was born on June 10, 1907, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to George and Gertrude Appleby.He was journalist with both The Paris Times and The Washington Post. He arrived in England in March 1945 and was assigned to the 487th Bomb Group at Lavenham as a celestial navigation trainer who taught pilots to find targets using the stars during nighttime bombing raids. However, the European air war was almost over by the time Appleby arrive, leaving Appleby plenty of time to explore the Suffolk countryside. He wrote a book about his seven month stay in England titled 'Suffolk Summer', published in 1948. John Appleby gave the copyright to Suffolk Summer to St Edmundsbury Borough Council so that all royalties would be used to maintain the Rose Garden in the Abbey Gardens as a permanent memorial to those Americans based in Bury St Edmunds who gave their lives during the war.The garden is named in his honour.

After the war, Appleby returned to Arkansas and worked on the family orchard, before eventually moving back to Washington D.C. John Appleby died at his home in Washington DC on 19 December 1974.