Sydney J. Harris
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Sydney J. Harris (September 14, 1917 – December 7, 1986) was an American
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
for the ''
Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...
'' and, later, the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
''. He wrote 11 books and his weekday
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
, "Strictly Personal", was syndicated in approximately 200
newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
throughout the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He also wrote an aperiodic feature called "Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things".


Biography

Sydney Justin Harris was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, but his family moved to the United States when he was five years old. Harris grew up in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where he spent the rest of his life. He attended high school with
Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...
, who was his lifelong friend. In 1934, at age 17, Harris began his newspaper career with the ''Chicago Herald and Examiner.'' He became a drama critic (1941) and a columnist for the ''Chicago Daily News'' (1944). He held those positions until the paper's demise in 1978 and continued to write his column for its sister paper, the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', until his death in 1986. Harris's politics were considered liberal and his work landed him on the
master list of Nixon political opponents The master list of Nixon's political opponents was a secret list compiled by US President Richard Nixon's Presidential Counselor Charles Colson. It was an expansion of the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of ...
. He spoke in favor of women's rights and civil rights. His last column was an essay against capital punishment. Harris often used aphorisms in his writings, such as this excerpt from ''Pieces of Eight'' (1982): "Superior people are only those who let it be discovered by others; the need to make it evident forfeits the very virtue they aspire to." And this from ''Clearing the Ground'' (1986): "Terrorism is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; war is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it." He was also a
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...
,
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, and
lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
, and he received numerous
honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
during his career, including from Villa Maria College, Shimer College, and Lenoir Rhyne College. In 1980–1982 he was the visiting scholar at Lenoir-Rhyne College in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. For many years he was a member of the
Usage The usage of a language is the ways in which its written and spoken variations are routinely employed by its speakers; that is, it refers to "the collective habits of a language's native speakers", as opposed to idealized models of how a languag ...
Panel of the
American Heritage Dictionary American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
. He was recognized with awards from organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In later years, he divided his time between Chicago and
Door County, Wisconsin Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,066. Its seat of government is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. ...
. Harris was married twice, and fathered five children. He died at age 69 of complications following heart bypass surgery.


Bibliography


Collected columns

* ''Strictly Personal'' (1953) * ''Majority of One'' (1957) * ''Last Things First'' (1961) * ''On the Contrary'' (1964) * ''Leaving the Surface'' (1968) * ''For the Time Being'' (1972) * ''The Best of Sydney J. Harris'' (1975) * ''Pieces of Eight '' (1982) * ''Clearing the Ground'' (1986) * ''How to Keep Air Clean''


Other books

* ''The Authentic Person: Dealing with Dilemma'' (1972) * ''Winners and Losers'' (1973) * ''Would You Believe?'' (1979)


References


External links


Sydney Justin Harris Papers
at
the Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wor ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Sydney J. American male journalists American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists Journalists from Chicago 1917 births 1986 deaths Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers Chicago Daily News people Chicago Sun-Times people 20th-century American non-fiction writers University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews British emigrants to the United States