1 in 8700: Jernigan Pontiac

Only the few and the lucky end up in Jernigan Pontiac’s cab. And, only the fewer and the even luckier end up in his stories.

Jernigan Pontiac, who requested that only his nom de plume be used, has lived and driven cabs in Burlington for 37 years, documenting 17 of those years in a bi-weekly — or, fortnightly, as he likes to say – column, “Hackie,” in Seven Days, a newspaper in Burlington. Yet, even with nearly 500 columns, two books, loyal followers and a minor-celebrity reputation, Jernigan Pontiac remains elusive and tries to maintain a low profile.

Originally from Brooklyn, Jernigan Pontiac began his career as a cab driver in Manhattan. Although he didn’t write back then he said, “isn’t it true that every writer, from the time that they’re a tyke, is always thinking about the world and observing?”

His sister, an “original hippie,” left the City and went to Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. Jernigan visited her once and fell in love with both Vermont and another hippie, who is now his wife. So, he moved to Vermont and started being a cabbie in Burlington.

He started a company, Morf, which “pioneered the use of vans as cabs in Vermont.” After growing the company, he sold it and went back to his original love — driving cabs. And then, after he kept telling his friends about all the interesting people he met through work, he started writing his column.

“99 percent of the time they’re thrilled to be in the paper,” said Jernigan Pontiac of his subjects. “One time I drove a young man up from Burlington who was breaking up with his UVM girlfriend … and he wrote a letter to the paper saying that I got a bunch of things wrong.”

Normally, though, Jernigan Pontiac and Seven Days don’t receive angry letters.

“My rule of thumb is, except in rare cases, I always change the names and I’ll also change where they’re going,” he said, explaining his writing process. “I’m in an odd dynamic — my purpose is not to invade the privacy of others — and the truth is, every two weeks I invade the privacy of others. The way I justify it, or the way I rationalize it, is that I try to write about whoever I’m writing about with as much compassion as I can muster.”

Along with his determination to write with compassion, Jernigan Pontiac believes that everyone’s life is important and interesting.

“I wrote in one story … ‘every person’s life could be an epic novel,’ and it’s true,” he said. “A lot of people say that’s not true, but they’re wrong. If you survived childhood, you’ve got a novel. I like to find the hidden gems and hidden gold which is in everyone’s life.”

Looking through Pontiac’s second book, “Hackie 2: Perfect Autumn”, a collection of his Seven Days columns, this creed is clear — he writes about everyone from a 91-year-old woman going on vacation to Florida, to Dave Mamet (a famous screen-writer and playwright), to a man whose construction business is going down the drain in the midst of his divorce. All of the people in Jernigan Pontiac’s stories are people all around us every day. They are all fascinating and interesting, yet most people don’t take the time to get to know them. Or, most people don’t open up as they do to Jernigan Pontiac.

“I think the heart of the ‘Hackie’ stories is the beauty or the sadness or the poignancy of everyday people and everyday life … these are really fascinated, interesting, wild people but the vast majority are not people who, if  you took a cursory look at their life have a lot going on there.”