Harold George Barrett

Harold Barrett was born in 1925, in Healdsburg. His father Matt was of the prominent Dry Creek ranching family; his mother Gladys of the Geyserville Parkersons. He graduated from the one-room Dry Creek School in 1939 and from Healdsburg High School in 1943. During World War Two he served in the Navy Seabees in the Pacific and China. He married Carol Bliss of Dry Creek in 1948. They had five sons: Joe, Pat, Ed, Jake, and Lee who died in 1988; four grandchildren: Matt, Megan, Kelsey, and Wilson Barrett; and three great grandchildren: Roselise Sullivan-Barrett and the Torres brothers, Devin and Miles. He lost Carol in 2012.?Supported by the marvelous GI Bill, he attended the University of the Pacific, earning BA and MA degrees (1949, 1952). After teaching four years at Lodi High School and five at Compton College, Harold went on to the University of Oregon, completing a Ph.D. degree in the discipline of rhetoric in 1962.?Harold taught at the University of Oregon, Southern Oregon University, and the California State University, Hayward (now C.S.U. East Bay), including courses in public speaking, interpersonal communication, speech analysis and criticism, and the history of rhetoric. In the 80s, he began to center his research on ordinary communication-daily rhetorical interaction--with particular focus on narcissism, the useful and the problematic.?During his 29 years at Cal State, he was active in curriculum development and in establishing programs, some nationally respected. Harold loved teaching, both the basic course and graduate seminar, and never took a day of sick leave during his forty-two years in the classroom. Much of his writing, including 14 books, grew out of experience in the classroom. In 1963, he was named Faculty member of the Year at Southern Oregon University, and in 1982, the Outstanding Professor of Cal State. He retired in 1992.?He often remarked to Carol that he wished he could tell all former students that how grateful he was for having had the richly rewarding experience of interacting with them--all of the 16,000, más o menos (In later years, he studied Spanish and talked with la gente of the Americas and Spain-and the USA).?Healdsburg and the Dry Creek Valley were his favorite places in the world.?But foremost always was family, starting with true-blue Carol, his lovely sweetheart. They were married for 65 years. Together, they reared those sons, all men of character and goodwill. Looking back on his life with Carol, his family, and his successful career, he often said, "I'm sure a lucky guy." He meant it.

Published in Healdsburg Tribune · June 28, 2023