Jeffery Goddard- Growing Up With The Real Life Indiana Jones

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Jeffery Goddard with a Llama

Jeffery recounts his life growing up in the shadow of his famous father, one of the world’s greatest adventurers and goal achievers, John Goddard.

Goddard with tribespeople.

One rainy afternoon, an inspired 15-year old boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, “My Life List.” Under that heading he wrote down 127 goals.

These were not simple or easy goals. They included climbing the world’s major mountains, exploring the entire length of the longest rivers of the world, piloting the world’s fastest aircraft, running a mile in under five minutes and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

-Excerpts from the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, 1993

John Goddard holds a primate.

Jeffery will describe the highs and lows of being the eldest son of this famous explorer.

“In this real-life Indiana Jones meets Rocky meets Out of Africa globe-trotting adventure, a young man with a dream risks everything to reach his goals –

all 127 of them.”

-My Life List: The Story of John Goddard”

John Goddard poses with various talismans.

There are many stories of those who have set and met ambitious goals in their lives, often featuring personal accomplishments seldom achieved by others.  But never in documented history has one individual set and achieved so many physically exhausting, mentally challenging and life-threatening goals as John Goddard.

Jeffery’s adventures include:

  • Hitchhiking all over Arizona at age 15.
  • Owning one of the first hang gliders, flying from the cliffs near Makapuu
  • Hiking to one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
  • White water canoeing and rafting.
  • Solo hiking and camping for two weeks in N. Maine.
  • Rock climbing.
  • Kayaking in Costa Rica.
  • Horseback riding in rain forest.
  • Sky diving.
  • Scuba diving in several countries including cave diving the Cenotes
  • Trail running from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the north rim in one day and…
  • on the Great Wall in China
  • Climbing two 7,000 ft peaks in one day
  • Living on remote island in Japan for five months,
  • Sleeping next to an African waterhole while on safari in Kenya
  • Exec producing a feature film with an all-star cast
  • Racing his 700 hp AMG at Willow Springs and Fontana Speedway
  • Learning Japanese and living in Japan for five years
  • Dog sledding on glacier
  • Raising five daughters and one son…

…but he still has many goals left on his bucket list. Find out what they are on January 9th and it’s an open night so bring family and friends!

Jeffery Goddard is the CEO and founder of TVA Media Group, one of the oldest and most successful direct response TV ad agencies in the country.
Son of the well-known documentary/adventure filmmaker/explorer, John Goddard, Jeffery grew up surrounded by film production. He was a news anchor and TV reporter for KBYU while attending Brigham Young University and majoring in Communications / Broadcasting. He also received a BA in Japanese and Intercultural Communications from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Jeffery has lived and traveled throughout Asia since 1979 and is totally fluent in reading, writing, and speaking Japanese, as well as some Mandarin. With over 30,000 social media followers, Jeffery has been the subject of numerous major media interviews including Newsweek, PBS, Discovery, and The Learning Channel. Jeffery was the first 3rd generation member of The Adventurers’ Club (#1010) and has been attending off and on since he was five years old. He is the father of five daughters and one son which, along with his marriage to Laura, he calls his “best productions to date.”

This program was organized by Alec Shumate, Member #1210.