“You Don’t Know Jack! My Long, Strange Trip Through the World of Public Health,” a memoir by Dr. Jack Dillenberg, was recently released by Olympia Publishers.
A one-time mayor of Jerome and current Jerome town councilman whose long history of public health leadership in Arizona includes a stint as the Arizona Department of Health Services’ director, Dillenberg’s book chronicles his many adventures.
Memoir
Co-written by Michelle Barry of Clarkdale, the memoir takes readers on a captivating journey through Dillenberg’s incredible life of public health service and leadership. From his humble beginnings in Queens, NY, to his impactful work in Jamaica, India, California and Arizona, he shares inspiring stories of overcoming challenges and making a difference in the world.
Through his engaging narrative, Dillenberg reflects on the lessons he learned from mentors, public health professionals and everyday people who shaped his path.
Join Dillenberg as he navigates the complexities of public health, encounters influential figures like U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater [R-Ariz.], Bob Marley and Mother Teresa, and discovers the true meaning of leadership. He takes readers behind the scenes of the founding of Arizona’s first dental school, A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, a groundbreaking educational facility that set the standard for dental education across the country.
Dillenberg served as the dean there for 15 years before retiring in 2017 and moving to Jerome, where he served on the Town Council and was elected mayor in 2020, and reelected to council twice since.
This compelling memoir that Dillenberg hopes will inspire the next generation to answer the call to serve their communities and leave a lasting mark on the world.
“I hope my story shows younger people that anyone can make a difference in this crazy world of ours,” Dillenberg said. “As public health has become more politicized, and the caring, highly competent professionals in this field have been villainized, it is more important than ever to remember what public health is truly about: Making a positive impact and improving health outcomes for the greatest number of people you can.”
International Career
Following dental school graduation and a two-year tour in the U.S. Navy, Dillenberg spent two years as the staff dentist at the Southbury Training School’s residential facility for severely developmentally-disabled individuals in Connecticut, which he stated was life-changing experience.
Dillenberg then relocated to Negril, Jamaica, where he worked for the Jamaican Ministry of Health in a health clinic in Green Island, a small fishing village on the far west coast.
Dillenberg the pursued a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University and subsequently joined its Dental School Public Health faculty, while also traveling to Calcutta, India, twice a year for six years worked as a public health specialist for the World Bank.
Dillenberg then moved to Phoenix, working in the ADHS as chief of the Office of Oral Health and ultimately as its director for over four years during Gov. Fife Symington’s administration.
He then worked in Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and California Department of Health Services as a public health officer before returning to Arizona four years later to found ATSU-ASDOH in Mesa.
Honors
Dillenberg was awarded the Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit in 1993, inducted into the International College of Dentists in 2007, received the Arizona Medical Association’s Humanitarian Award in 2012, the American Academy of Developmental Medicine’s Dr. Robert E. Cooke Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry Distinguished Service Award in 2019. Fresh Start Women’s Foundation of Arizona named him East Valley Man of the Year and the United Arab Emirates International Dental Conference named him Personality of the Year.
He served as executive clinical director for Pacific Dental Services Special Needs Dental Clinic nonprofit, board president of Global Smile Health nonprofit, global ambassador for the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, Board Vice Chairman for the Brighterway Institute and as a member of the Arizona State Supreme Court Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee.
The book is available directly from Olympia Publishers at olympiapublishers.com. Readers can also find it at Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Dillenberg and Barry also created a podcast as a companion piece to the book, You Don’t Know Jack! The Podcast.
Michelle Barry
Barry is a poet, essayist, novelist, nonfiction writer and vocalist. Originally from New England, Barry began a slam poetry career in Manchester, N.H., and earned a spot on the Slam Free or Die National Poetry Slam team, performing and competing nationwide. She founded and hosts the monthly Pendemonium, a Night of Words, poetry event at the Queen B Vinyl Café in Old Town Cottonwood.
Courtesy photo
