John Thomas "Jack" Larner III

After more than seven decades, renowned Rock and Roll video producer Jack Larner, known for his outrageous stories, unique style, enigmatic sense of humor, and trademark Einstein hair and eyebrows, has embarked on his End of the Road Farewell Tour with great pomp and pageantry.

In typical Jack Larner style, the tour began with a surprise announcement for family and VIPs only. Fans were devastated to hear Jack has unexpected ended his career long before anyone was ready.

In a joint statement, John and Suzanne Larner (Thomson) shared, “This may be the end of the road for Jack, but his iconic memory lives on through his stories and music.” Jack’s beloved partner Marci says “I have been Jack’s biggest fan for almost 25 years. We were married on 12.12.12 at 12:00. I haven’t always understood or even wanted to understand his all of his jokes, but I have always loved him.”

Jack grew up on Indianapolis’s east side, the eldest of Jack and Mary Larner’s little rascals. Jack, Dan, Tim, Jim, Nancy and Steve have been a tight-knit tribe known for hilarious adventures and stories almost too good to be true. Jack married his high school sweetheart Debby Heath and together they had two children; Suzanne who learned never to let the truth stand in the way of a good story and John who picked up the music beat by spending nights sleeping under a soundboard while Jack was live on the air at WQAX. After their divorce, Jack and Debby continued to have an almost perfect divorced relationship as co-parents to their children.

In the late 1970’s and early 80’s Jack Larner came up with a new music concept that had never been done before. Larner launched Late Night Snack (LNS) a live broadcast on public television of bands playing at a Bloomington, Indiana bar called Oscars. Larner opened the weekly Saturday night show with a recorded video of him dressed in a Spud’s Makenzie costume, opening a 1960’s style refrigerator completely packed with nothing but Budweiser beers. The camera zoomed into a tight shot of the beer and transitioned to a live shot of Jack on stage introducing the band at Oscars.

The following is an excerpt from an Indianapolis Monthly article by Jeff Vrabel, about John Mellencamp, whom Jack detested.

August, 1980

Oscars Bar

Bloomington

Late in the summer of 1980, when Wayne’s World–style community cable was a thing, Johnny Cougar took the stage at a now-defunct Bloomington nightclub for what then qualified as a multimedia blowout. As part of a live-music series called Late Night Snack, organizers had arranged to simulcast the show on WQAX (a volunteer-driven FM radio station) and Channel 3 on your (extremely large) home cable box. For a musician who was still coming up in the world, it was a big deal. But Mike Leonard, a former columnist for the Bloomington Herald-Times who believes he has interviewed Mellencamp more than any other journalist, recalls that the aspiring rockstar didn’t care so much about obscenity laws. “I remember thinking, Did he just drop another f-bomb?” Leonard says.

Jack Larner, who produced Late Night Snack for 12 years (and first saw Mellencamp in a garage at a Bloomington party), said the band signed on because they’d never seen themselves perform live before. “They were getting ready to go out on this big tour with Heart,” Larner says, “and they were surprised at what they looked like. The music was great; the professionalism, not so much.” That episode of LNS probably won’t ever be seen again. “There were two copies of the tape,” Larner says, “and John left with both of them.”

Jack was never able to reclaim the original or copy of the Mellencamp/Cougar LNS video. However, after many years a copy of the video surfaced. http://www.youtube.com/v/YaRHq8UHBBg?fs=1&hl=en_US

After leaving his mark on the Bloomington music, bar, lake, and social scene, Larner moved to Florida with the mother of his children. The two lived together amicably for a short time providing memorable stories for all.

Jack’s life was immeasurably changed the day Martha Lane Wise made her appearance. Jack and Marci bonded in life, love and matrimony spending their lives in Alabama, Florida, Indianapolis and North Carolina always accompanied by their rescue dog Mops. Marci’s kids Ginger (James) and Jay (Brooke) were often bewildered by Jack and probably wondered more than once what their mother had signed onto with Jack, but GranJack loved them and all of his grandchildren.

Jack’s son John and his wife Lauren Larner are co-owners of the Patron Saint and Saint Shack in Indianapolis, Indiana. In true Irish Wake style, the End of the Road Farewell Party will be hosted at “The Saint.”

Always one to be center stage, Jack Larner will be honored on June 18th 1:00 to 4:00 open to everyone (adults only after 4pm) at the Patron Saint 250 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis Indiana 46225. Family, friends, and fans are welcome to bring their favorite Jack Larner stories.

If you have a favorite story or song please feel free to share it here or at the End of the Road Farewell Party.