When Worlds Collide

Growing up in Toledo, Ohio in the 1960s, I became acquainted with the writings of Chicago columnist/philosopher/critic Sydney J. Harris via his five-day-a-week column Strictly Personal. The Blade ran his columns in the "The Peach" section of the paper, which was (actually) a salmon-colored (usually innermost) section of the paper. The "pink sheet", as we called it, contained Family Circle cartoon, puzzles such as Jumble, news about local people, helpful hints, television and radio listings, L.M. Boyd's Odd Facts and Strictly Personal.

Perhaps what hooked me on reading the column were Sydney's "non-column" stalwarts that appeared once or twice a week: the trivia-laden "Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things" and "Antics With Semantics" -- a word puzzle or quiz usually, intended as a vocabulary builder.

His columns were part of my daily diet once I entered Bowling Green State University at twenty. His essays served as models for me as I struggled to meet the writing standards of my English composition class -- a class which many BG students had failed on the first go 'round; a class which every BG graduate was required to take and pass. More importantly, his wisdom, his careful consideration of issues, and his passion for language inspired this (mostly) closet author.

In those years, I drove a Black 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle. It was the second car I'd owned and quite possibly my favorite. (I drove it for another nine years or so.) At the time I'd purchased it, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel had begun flexing its muscle with regard to the flow of oil into the United States, declaring an embargo on countries supporting Israel in its conflict with Egypt. Fuel efficient automobiles became more and more necessary and therefore more and more visible. I had always had a particular affinity for VW Bugs anyway, so my choice for a vehicle served both practical and aesthetic purposes.

Flashing forward almost thirty years, I pulled out the lone Sydney J. Harris book I own today, The Best Of Sydney J. Harris, to see what I might be able to glean from Sydney's words that would remain applicable to today's world events. I had read Michael Moore's recent message posted at another blog and felt compelled to add something to the discussion. I found something, posted it and moved on.

I then wondered why so few people have heard of Harris or his writing. I wondered if there was much information about him on the web. I found that most of the Google results were quote respositories. I did manage to find a site dedicated to Harris and his writing comprised of fifty or so of his essays. A good start, but far from what I was looking for. I was hoping to find biographical information.

Further search yielded very little.

I did find a link, however, to an excerpt from Small Wonder -- The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen by Walter Henry Nelson.

The kind of people who drive Volkswagens strike syndicated columnist Sydney J. Harris of the Chicago Daily News "as having what traffic officers call 'the right attitude' on the road... They seem sensible people, with decent values, and I would wager a sizable amount that the accident rate is quite low among them." Harris is right; insurance rates are often lower for Volkswagen owners than for owners of big cars. As for their being people with "decent values," Harris seems right too, as the "Police Blotter" column in the Sudbury, Massachusetts, Citizen shows. "On Saturday night," it reported, "a VW sedan struck a stone wall on the Haynes property on Morse Road. The next day a young man returned and rebuilt the wall."

The things you learn while looking up other things!