John Ashley Cloud

John Ashley Cloud died of a heart attack on December 15, 2016. John was born on November 7, 1970, and spent most of his childhood in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He attended Jefferson Preparatory School and graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1989. He was Co-Valedictorian of his graduating class and was captain of the Quiz Bowl team. He participated in many other school activities.

John attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was managing editor at the Harvard Crimson. In 1993 , he was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and studied in Oxford, England for two years. John had many travels, while living in England.

His first job after college was with Washington City Paper in Washington D.C.

In 1997, he moved to NYC to work for Time Magazine. He wrote countless articles and cover stories. John won numerous awards, including a National Press Club prize in 2005 for political journalism. He left Time in 2013 to do freelance writing.

He is survived by his husband Christian Wurst of Austin, TX, his mother Sherry West O'Sullivan of Franklin, TN , his father Charles Cloud of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, his brother Jay Cloud of Franklin, TN and two nieces, Emma and Avery. His cats, Wolfie and Jezebel were dear to him.

John was a loving, compassionate man, who was loved by many.