About John

John Hanzl was born in Montclair, New Jersey in 1965. When he was seven his parents decided suburban living was not for them and moved to northern Vermont where they raised dairy goats, heated with wood and changed just about every aspect of their previous lives.

In 1980 he attended Northfield Mount Herman boarding school in Massachusetts for his junior and senior years in high school, where he rowed on the varsity crew team and the spark of adventure began to burn. From NMH John moved to Boston and received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Boston University.

John married his beautiful wife Amy in Akumal, Mexico in 2004 and live in a 2,000 sq foot loft in an old factory building in Boston that they rebuilt into a home.

Following his desire for intellectual and physical stimulation, John has worked as a bike courier, Chief Engineer in the television industry, programmer, SCUBA instructor, and aquarist.

John is currently the Diving Safety Officer for the New England Aquarium, where he dives in the Aquarium’s largest exhibit – the Giant Ocean Tank – feeding the exhibit’s 1,200+ inhabitants.

From wrangling sharks to smuggling dog food and satellite dishes into Cuba via boat, from skydiving to trekking deep into the jungle of the Amazon, from diving to the Andrea Doria – the Mount Everest of scuba diving, to running Sequel his Sabre 38 Hardtop Express through towering swells out of Nantucket, John’s quest for adventure and experiences have provided a deep well from which he inks his stories.

If you find yourself in Boston, stop by the Aquarium and say hi.