Colonel Jack Giannini, USAF (ret.) began his military career as a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II.  Scott Wuerz, of the Belleville News-Democrat interviewed Jack Giannini in April 2008.  Scott wrote, “After a year of attacking convoys in Africa, Giannini's unit was sent to Europe. In early 1944, its pilots switched from the Airacobra to the new P-47 Thunderbolt, a huge and powerful plane with a lot of firepower. It was in the P-47 that Giannini had his only air-to-air combat -- a tangle with a German fighter over Sardinia. “I got the advantage on him, and he didn't see me until it was too late," Giannini said. “I opened up on him and could see pieces of the plane start breaking away and then the canopy came off.” Colonel Jack Giannini is the author of Tale Spinners; Up Drafts Down Drafts; and, The Blue Canoe.

According to the book description of The Blue Canoe, “In reflection I think back through the years, there are many things which have happened to me that may well be of passing interest to readers. Places, events all amount up to and many pages in books. In thirty years in the military I have touched the ground in most nations in the western world. My only entry behind the iron curtain was a quick stop in Rumania. I pulled a year in Vietnam. In that year, I was responsible for the release of military information to the 400 odd members of the press corps there. A very interesting experience. Upon retirement from the Air Force, I was fifty something and too young to quit. I retired at Scott Air Force Base in southern Illinois. Having a degree in law from Vanderbilt University, I commenced the practice of law. I am sorry to relate that I never succeeded in plumbing the depths of human perfidy in twenty-seven years in this endeavor. After I finally retired-retired, I started placing some of my experiences on paper. I have just completed my third book. I feel there may be a book or two left within me. One thing is for sure: the trip has been a gas.”

The MOAA said of Tale Spinners, “A series of recollections in a checkered career spanning thirty years in the Air Force, and twenty-seven years practicing law in Illinois. Some of them are true, some have a smattering of truth and some are figments of a vivid imagination.”

According to the book description of Up Drafts Down Drafts, “After spending 30 years in the Air Force and 27 practicing family law, Giannini had picked up many stories. He has selected 13 to share. Though he has fictionalized them, they all have a speck of truth.”