John K. Snyder Jr. , President Geppi's Entertainment Auctions & Publications

John Snyder graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Oakland City University in Indiana, where he went on to attend Indiana University Law School. He also received on-campus continuing education at Indiana State University, University of Nebraska, Ohio State, and Harvard.

His career began with a highly sought after management intern position with the Whirlpool Corporation in Evansville, Indiana. After completing that two-year program, he became Manager, Special Projects for the company, and assisted in the reorganization of a new ordinance plant facility, dealing specifically in manpower requirements and training programs, as well as numerous other duties that included participation in the development of a secret weapons system for the military.

Through the experience he gained at Whirlpool and his simultaneous community involvement, he came to the attention of local and state officials and owners of major tourism entities in Indiana, which led to him being appointed by the Lieutenant Governor as Director, Tourism Promotion for the state at age 26.

In this position, he planned and organized tourism campaigns to promote travel to Indiana. He served as the chief spokesman for the state on tourism matters and worked closely with the state legislature and the Lieutenant Governor on related policy.

Under his leadership, the state was recognized by the nation’s top travel organization for the first time for having the best tourism promotional effort compared to other states in its same budget category.

Two years later, he became Director of the Office of State/City Affairs for the USTS, and as such, his task was to foster coordination of tourism-related initiatives between the Department of Commerce, other Federal agencies, state and city personnel, and industry and attraction officials. He worked closely with Members of Congress to establish and maintain tourism programs, and with state and city officials on such practical concerns as highway signage, parks and recreation, economic development, and cultural affairs. He chaired and administered the USTS Matching Grants Committee, which was responsible for the development of the criteria for the grants program which facilitated the marketing abroad of U.S. travel destinations.

A year and a half later, he became the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, with day-to-day management responsibility for directing the activities of the United States Travel and Tourism Administration, the official government tourism office. There he developed and implemented policies to see that the Department of Commerce fulfilled its role in the field of tourism and recreation under the National Tourism Policy Act. He also served as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Commerce on issues related to travel and tourism and acted as principal liaison between the USTTA and Congress on such matters.

In the absence of an Under Secretary, he served as Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism from June to December, 1983, and once an Under Secretary was appointed, he was again named Deputy Under Secretary for Travel and Tourism, United States Travel and Tourism Administration, his final position in 15 years of government service.

In this position he also chaired the newly formed committee mandated by the National Tourism Policy Act, which included representatives from the Department of Defense, State Department, Interior Department, and Department of Agriculture, among others.

John entered the private sector in May 1984 as the Executive Vice-President of the American Bus Association, where he conducted the trade association’s daily activities and worked closely with the group’s President and Board of Directors. In this capacity, he regularly consulted with federal, state, and business officials on matters concerning travel and tourism on behalf of the more than 3,500 member companies (such as SeaWorld, BuschGardens, Walt Disney World, and others), all 50 states, and 355 member cities and convention bureaus.

In April 1987, John became a consultant to the ABA and returned to his native Indiana. Continuing to work with the top level of executives in the association and its partners, he helped develop new international programs and initiatives between the United States and Canada. Additionally, his efforts were the catalyst for the 1988 ABA Marketplace being held in Indianapolis. He also oversaw the educational program for the association and set up a degree program with the ABA and Indiana University – Purdue University in Indiana.

In 1993, he joined his friend Steve Geppi, who owns the nation’s oldest city magazine, Baltimore Magazine, and is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, to assist in the development of Diamond International Galleries, which quickly became the pinnacle of showplaces for pop culture in North America. Through its advocacy on behalf of trademark and copyright holders and the general advancement of knowledge about collecting, the Gallery has interacted with collectors, manufacturers, the media and other interested parties to increase the standing of collecting in the mainstream culture.

Almost simultaneously, he assisted with the negotiations for Geppi’s purchase of two publishing companies, creating Gemstone Publishing, further adding to the corporate effort to promote the comic arts, their heritage, and their intrinsic link to American history. The company publishes a line of prominent guide books and other publications about pop culture history. Additionally, the company produces comics and books based on Walt Disney’s standard characters such as Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, and Mickey Mouse.

In 2004, Diamond International Galleries acquired York, Pennsylvania-based Hake’s Americana & Collectibles, the premier auction house in the area of character collectibles and political memorabilia.

In 2005, he spearheaded for Geppi the acquisition of Denver, Pennsylvania-based Morphy Auctions, along with its Adamstown Antiques and Dan Morphy's Antique, Toy, Holiday & Advertising Show units.

In 2005 and 2006, working with Geppi, he oversaw the development, construction and opening of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, which is located in the Camden Yards complex immediately next door to Oriole Park and directly across the street from Baltimore Convention Center. The opening of such a family-friendly destination brought him back into regular contact with many of the travel and tourism contacts from his government and tourism days.

Most recently, John has overseen the move of Geppi's Entertainment Publishing & Auctions, which includes Diamond International Galleries, its Hake’s Americana unit, and Gemstone Publishing to York. Beyond their corporate move, he and his wife Linda have also moved their residence to York as well.

In addition to what he hopes will be the beginning of a long and productive involvement in the community, his move to Pennsylvania is something of a homecoming as well. While the patriot and Hoosier in him enjoys his close family relation to Abraham Lincoln (to whom he is a first cousin four generations removed), his connection to Pennsylvania is equally pedigreed.

His family moved to the Keystone State from Germany in 1744, changing the surname from Schneider to Snyder and quickly settled into lives of service to their community, including pastoring churches and occupying elected offices. Simon Snyder, his first cousin six generations removed, served from 1808 to 1817 as Pennsylvania’s third governor. Snyder County is, of course, named for Simon Snyder.

As the family moved west and eventually settled in Indiana, it was almost a family trait that they continued to be involved in community-based social, political and spiritual pursuits leading to John’s own government service.

His great grandfather was influential in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic and was active in local and state politics, as was his grandfather. His great aunt Ella was the first female U.S. Post Master and was also the first woman to drive coast to coast in the United States. (She did so in a Maxwell.)

John’s father, John K. Snyder, Sr., was a two-term State Treasurer in Indiana, where he also became a state party chairman and ran for the governorship and the United States Senate after serving the Seabees during World War II.  

Listed multiple times in Who’s Who in America, John is the recipient of many awards including the U.S. Government Bronze Medal, as well as honorary titles from the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alaska, Nebraska and others. He was recognized with an award by the National Conference of Black Mayors for his efforts in promoting international tourism to America’s cities and also taught popular culture courses at Indiana University. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper, magazine, radio, and television features and interviews as a noted expert in the fields of tourism and collectibles. He is also an advisor or contributor to numerous specialty pop culture guides from a variety of publishers.

He is the father of six adult children and grandfather of 11.