Faculty Update: John Harris

I’m writing this on the same day I’m about to teach a class — two actually — for the first time in six months. I’m easing into retirement, teaching two quarters each year, following the precedent set by Carolyn Dale and Tim Pilgrim. I’ll teach winter and spring quarters only, and I plan to do it indefinitely. By the time you read this I’ll be back in the swing of things, but today I’m a bit stunned.

The past year saw the publication of a magazine article I wrote on the World War II photographer George Strock, for which I still haven’t been paid more than a year later. The magazine, which will remain unnamed, explained it’s in the midst of restructuring its business model and doesn’t have money to pay its contributors — ah, the joys of freelancing. A chapter on Vietnam War photography I wrote was published in “The Palgrave Handbook of Artistic and Cultural Responses to War since 1914” — apparently, they couldn’t come up with a less sexy title. And my book on the 1964 NFL champion Cleveland Browns, “Redemption in ’64,” came out in October. It’s already selling in the dozens. The best part has been reconnecting with old friends, who heard about and/or read the book. I also received an email from a person in the UK who wrote that he laughed out loud at the line: “Groza’s older brother Frank kicked for the high school team, and Lou went along and shagged.” If you’ve watched the “Austin Powers” movies you know that in England shagged has a different meaning than it does in America. Oh, behave!