John Dechant always liked writing. It wasn’t until he found Legacy Preservation that he realized he wanted to do it for a living.

Convinced his fingers—and mind—were strong enough to handle the workload, he wandered into Legacy one day in 2008 and asked to write something. He had recently completed a master’s degree and felt up to the challenge. Jim Fogarty stuck him in the corner and asked him to write up a few paragraphs for a book that was nearing completion. Fogarty liked what he wrote and told him to use more active voice and fewer words.

In 2014, John, a graduate of Creighton University, became a partner in Legacy. A few years later, he was named president.

John’s interests include golf and Wes Anderson movies. He is a past board member of Joslyn Castle & Gardens and the Omaha Sister Cities Association. His 2016 book Scoreless was named one of “12 Really Good New Sports Books” by the Christian Science Monitor, and in 2023 he wrote Little Poison, a biography of Depression-era pro golfer Paul Runyan.