J.G. Sumner holds a master's degree in physics and a private pilot license, and has made two thousand parachute jumps. Four of the jumps in which he participated set new world records. During his career in education, he taught physics, engineering technologies and mathematics at the college level. The final five years before his retirement were spent as the Director of Aviation and Engineering Technologies at a Florida college. He now lives a quiet life near his family in rural Tennessee.