He was a funny, brilliant guy. For the longest time, he was just the voice on the family answering machine. But I called the number a lot and got to know that voice. I’d say any reporter covering city government did in those days.
Then one evening at some campaign event in Fountain City, a muscular blond guy approached me and said, “Carlene can’t get to the phone now, but if you’ll leave your name and number, she’ll get back to you.”
And, of course, I recognized that voice instantly. John Malone was a hoot. Heart failure finally got him this week, at age 79. Carlene had fought that thing like a tiger for the last 10 years, making sure he ate right, monitoring his medical care, giving doctors hell when it was necessary.
She said she met him in a graduate level statistics class they were both taking as undergraduates at NYU. He was an ex-Marine and the only member of the class to make an A. She pulled a C and hired him to tutor her. The relationship commenced from there. That story astounded me: Carlene Malone is the smartest person I have ever met, and she’s telling me this guy is smarter than she is? OMG.
He was a research psychologist at UT. He ran a lab and kept lots of animals, many of whom went home with him when they retired from active duty. This meant that the Malones never had a dog, cat or hamster. Instead, they shared their home with an assortment of reptiles, amphibians and smartass talking birds who competed for Carlene’s attention when she talked on the phone.
One of the things I most loved about John was when I found out that Lady Vol basketball player Shalon Pillow invited him to be her guest at a banquet for athletes and their favorite professors. He was very proud of that, and very honored. Afterwards and until Shalon graduated, John stayed mad at Pat Summitt for not giving her enough playing time. He was a loyal guy.
And even without the Duke doctorate and the long list of publications, John would make my personal hall of fame for the quote he gave me when Carlene retired from office. It was the first election year after the term limits referendum – which she, alone among local elected officials, supported. And when Carlene Malone supports something, it’s never a passive exercise. She worked like a mine mule for that referendum.
Anyhow, when I spoke to John about the retirement story I was doing for Metro Pulse (it was a cover story and the photog posed her with an iguana on her shoulder), he alluded to her work on the term limits referendum and said this (near as I can recreate):
“Carlene is a terrorist. She blew herself up to get rid of Victor.”
He was one of a kind.
Semper Fi, John.
Betty Bean writes a Thursday opinion column for KnoxTNToday.com. We poached this obit from her personal Facebook page which is restricted to people she can stand.