Harrison, Jim (James Thomas)
Dec. 11, 1937 –
Place of Birth: Grayling, MI
Place of Principle Residence: summer – Livingston, MT : winter – Patagonia, AZ
Bibliography:
Jim Harrison grew up roaming the woods in northern Michigan with his parents Winfield (a county agricultural agent) and Norma. At age seven his left eye was blinded by a piece of glass, an event he now attributes to his desire to stay outdoors in nature as a form of comfort. When a young man, Harrison set off to make his own way in the world, as his family was financially strained with five children. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University in 1960 and married his wife, Linda, with whom he has been with for over forty years. In 1964 Harrison got his Master’s at State University of New York. He worked as an assistant professor in English in 1965, but quickly concluded he was “temperamentally unsuited” to teaching. In 1966 Harrison moves back with his wife and newborn daughter to northern Michigan and supported his family through freelance journalism and manual labor. Eventually, his poetry brought him to the attention of major reviewers that in turn led to the release of his first book, Wolf, in 1971. Although his book Farmer, published in 1976, did not initially enjoy much success, his subsequent trilogy Legends of the Fall was a great commercial success and was later made into a film. Harrison also works as an artist, and in addition has taken up screenwriting. Critics have noted Harrison’s desire to preserve the South and rural America both in his art and writing. Harrison recently moved from his northern Michigan home and now spends his summers in Minnesota and his winters in Arizona.
Selected Works:
- Plain Song (1965)
- Out of the War Shadow: an Anthology of Current Poetry (1967)
- Locations (1968)
- Un Bon Jour pour Mourir (1973)
- Sundog : The Story of an American Foreman, Robert Corvus Strang (1984)
- Julip (1994)
- The Beast God Forgot to Invent (2000)
- True North (2004)
Awards
- 1967-1969 National Endowment for the Arts Grants
- 1969-1970 Guggenheim fellowship
- 2007 Michigan Notable Book Award for Saving Daylight
- Two awards from National Literary Anthology
Critical reception:
New York Times has praised Wolf: A False Memoir as “…a raunchy, funny, swaggering, angry, cocksure book; it is also a poignant, handsomely-written self-exploration…” Harrion’s book Legends of the Fall has enjoyed particular attention, being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. True North has received mixed reviews, but Gordon Hauptfleisch (editor of Blogcritics Books and book reviewer for San Diego Union Tribune) wrote, “still, if Harrison’s newest work is flawed an uneven, it is nevertheless a rich and satisfying read for the strenuously poetic passages detailing not only the complexities, quirks, and intricacies of human emotions and interactions, but also for conveying a solid sense of place.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Growing up in northern Michigan has been strongly attributed by Harrison to influencing his writing. As a child he enjoyed hunting and fishing and spent many days roaming the woods. This is clearly represented in much of his writing is rural in nature. In addition, Harrison has developed a strong love of the South and rural America. While living in northern Michigan as an adult, Harrison wrote in an old granary on his property. His love for nature has never faded.