In Memorium: Jim Harrison

Writer Jim Harrison, who died on March 27 at age seventy-eight, reworked the legacy of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Wallace Stegner to his own original purposes. Set in his home state of Michigan or in the Southwest, Harrison’s writing charts the life cycles (and life crises) of his characters against an acute observation of the natural world and human society.  His first novel, Wolf (1971), was a fictional memoir of a naturalist tracking wolves in Michigan. Harrison was especially successful as a writer of novellas such as Legends of the Fall (1979), The Woman Lit by Fireflies (1990), and The Summer He Didn’t Die (2005).

Although a successful novelist, Harrison considered himself first and foremost a poet. His poetry addresses the deep sense of the spirituality inherent in nature more directly than does his prose; he was strongly influenced by Asian poetry. Harrison was also an enthusiastic cook (especially of game) and an even more enthusiastic eater; his advice for most recipes was to add more garlic.

Although Harrison lost an eye in a childhood accident, his sharp, descriptive sense of the world and the foibles of human character never dimmed. Frequently compared to Hemingway (a comparison he disparaged) because of their shared Michigan roots and interest in the outdoors, Harrison was not as “great” or influential a writer as his predecessor. But in many senses he was the better one, not least because of his ability to write empathetically about complex people (which Hemingway could not), especially people at odds with their family and society; rare for a male American writer, he did especially well when writing about women.

He also had a sly sense of humor and of the ridiculous (again completely unlike Hemingway); his basic world-view was of a comedy, not a tragedy, although many tragic events occurred in his writings. (The influence of Asian cosmology and poetry as well as his pantheism doubtless played a part in his essentially comedic outlook.) His last several books were streaked with his humorous exasperation about the pathos of getting old.  Harrison never stopped writing, even with the afflictions and pains (psychic and physical) of old age. His last book of novellas, The Ancient Minstrel, was published this spring.