JOHN RETTIE was born
in London, England in July 1949. He grew up in Orpington, Kent, and attended
Beckenham & Penge Grammar School. After high-school he
studied Civil Engineering at Leeds University. While there he began his career
as a photographer by photographing rock groups, car rallies and models for the
university newspaper. He was lucky enough to photograph most well-known rock
groups in the late 60s. As university newspaper photographer he was one of only
two photographers to cover The Who's "Live at Leeds" concert, which
became one of the most popular live LPs in history. In 1969, John made
his first visit to the U.S. where he worked in Newark, NJ for seven weeks
before embarking on a one-month Greyhound bus trip around the States. He
returned the following year to California and started photographing auto races
as a professional, covering TransAm and CanAm races in California as well as
the Baja 1000. In 1971 John began
his career with Safer Motoring magazine in Cirencester, Glos., UK. Following a two
year stint as assistant editor he became a freelance writer and photographer.
He traveled the world extensively between 1973 and 1985 covering auto races,
product launches and numerous other aspects of the auto industry. John helped found and
was president of Deitrich, Ober and Rettie, Inc., a small six-person public
relations and advertising agency (Gardena, CA), between 1976 and 1986 with
several clients in the auto industry, including BFGoodrich, Cosworth, British
School of Motor Racing and Chevrolet. During that period he also worked as
technical editor on Hot VWs magazine (Costa Mesa, CA) between 1977 and 1979 and
was editor of Import Auto Parts and Accessories magazine from 1981 until 1984. In 1985 John started
working for Ward's Communications (Detroit, MI) as their west coast bureau
chief. For three years he covered various aspects of the auto industry, from
dealerships to factories to heavy-duty trucks, for the numerous Ward's
publications. He joined J. D. Power and Associates as senior editor of three
newsletters in 1988. In 1990 he was promoted to Editorial Director. During the
next seven years he ran the publications department and was in charge of four
employees. John instigated and
managed the launch of J. D. Power and Associates' Web site and the JDPowerGuide
to Automobiles CD-ROM, which was J. D. Power's first ever consumer publication.
He also helped launch PowerGram, a daily news fax and was a key figure in
starting a joint venture in Britain with the BBC, which resulted in the launch
of the annual customer satisfaction study in that country. During his tenure at
J. D. Power, John was involved in consultancy work and provided analysis on
several projects. He was regularly interviewed by magazines, newspapers, radio
and television for his opinions on specific subjects within the auto and
computer industries. He continued to keep his hand in as a freelancer doing
occasional articles for magazines all over the world. Between 1990 and 1993 he
wrote a weekly road test column for the New York Times Regional Newspaper
Group. Since 1995 he has penned a monthly column on digital photography for
Rangefinder, a magazine for professional photographers. In 2007 he started writing a column on web technologies for a new magazine After Capture, which as its name suggests covers the needs of photographers and graphic artists after they've captured a picture. After nine years at
J. D. Power and Associates John returned to working as an freelance writer,
photographer, consultant, and analyst in October, 1997. In 2000 he was briefly
a dot-comer working as a content director before the site ran out of cash and
like many others John became a dot-goner! He was a member of
the jury for the North American Car and Truck of the Year Award from its
instigation until 2005. And he was one of only 13 U.S. members of the
135-strong international jury for the Car of the Century contest, held in 1999.
Currently he is a jury member for the World Car of the Year award. John was president of the Motor Press Guild, based in Los Angeles in 1992, 2004 and 2005. While president
in 2005 he started the highly regarded Automotive PR Survey sponsored by
MPG. Nowadays, John is using his
knowledge gained in over 35 years of covering all aspects of the auto industry,
plus his two-decades of experience in modern technology, to provide his
services to a wide range of clients and publishers.