Jonathan Harr
{{short description|American writer}}
Jonathan Harr is an American writer, best known for the nonfiction work A Civil Action.
Early life and education
Jonathan Ensor Harr was born 13 September 1948, in Beloit, Wisconsin, the son of John Ensor Harr (1 August 1926–14 November 2004),{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawrencefamhis.com/ancestors-o/g0/p285.htm|title=John Ensor Harr, b. 1 August 1926, d. 14 November 2004|website=Lawrence Family Ancestry|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701101356/https://www.lawrencefamhis.com/ancestors-o/g0/p285.htm|archive-date=2020-07-01}} a U.S. diplomat. Harr lived in France, Germany, Israel, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Harr attended the College of William and Mary, but left in 1968 to serve as a VISTA volunteer in Appalachia. He later attended Marshall University.{{cite web|last1=Boynton|first1=Robert|title=Jonathan Harr|url=http://newnewjournalism.com/bio.php?last_name=harr|website=The New New Journalism|access-date=2020-07-01|archive-date=2006-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629014844/http://newnewjournalism.com/bio.php?last_name=harr|url-status=bot: unknown}}
Career
Harr lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts,{{cite web |title=A Reader's Guide to Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action |url=http://blogs.law.unc.edu/library/2013/06/13/a-readers-guide-to-jonathan-harrs-a-civil-action/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223192540/http://blogs.law.unc.edu/library/2013/06/13/a-readers-guide-to-jonathan-harrs-a-civil-action/ |archive-date=2014-02-23 |accessdate=March 11, 2014 |publisher=UNC}} where he has taught nonfiction writing at Smith College. In 2008 he was writer-in-residence at the University of Chicago.{{cite web|last1=Schonwald|first1=Josh|title=Author Harr Discusses His Creative Process|url=http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/080717/harr.shtml|website=The University of Chicago Chronicle|publisher=The University of Chicago}}
He is a former staff writer at New England Monthly and has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine.{{cite web|title=Jonathan Harr|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/11975/jonathan-harr/|website=Author Spotlight|publisher=Penguin Random House}}
Harr spent approximately seven and a half years researching and writing A Civil Action,{{cite news|last1=McClurg|first1=Jocelyn|title=Jonathan Harr Spent Eight Years|url=https://www.courant.com/1999/01/08/jonathan-harr-spent-eight-years-researching-writing-a-civil-action/|publisher=Hartford Courant|date=January 8, 1999}} which was published in 1995, and subsequently nominated for a National Book Award, and awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award. John Travolta and Robert Duvall starred in the film of the same name, and Robert Redford was on the production team. Harr later wrote The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece in 2005, which became a best seller. The New York Times named it one of the ten best books of 2005.{{cite web|title=Ten Best Books of 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/books/review/the-10-best-books-of-2005.html|website=The New York Times|date=11 December 2005 |accessdate=7 February 2018}}
Books
- {{cite book | last = Harr | first = Jonathan | title = A Civil Action | url = https://archive.org/details/civilaction1995harr | url-access = registration | publisher = Random House | location = New York City | year = 1995 | isbn = 9780712676625 }}
- {{cite book | last = Harr | first = Jonathan | title = The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece | url = https://archive.org/details/lostpainting00harr_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Random House | location = New York City | year = 2005| isbn = 0375759867 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/080717/harr.shtml Author Harr in an online interview with the University of Chicago, 2008]
{{USC Scripter Awards — Film}}
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American male writers
Category:Smith College faculty
Category:Writers from Massachusetts
Category:Writers from Wisconsin