Glynn Harris, long-time outdoor writer/broadcaster from Ruston received the prestigious Arthur Van Pelt Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual conference of the Louisiana Outdoor Writer’s Association (LOWA) held recently in Morgan City.
The award, named after Arthur Van Pelt who began his journalistic career as an outdoor writer for The Chicago Tribune. In 1913, after moving to New Orleans, he began writing a column for the Item and, later, The Times Democrat in 1914 thru 1916. This paper was the predecessor of The Times Picayune.
He left the New Orleans paper for a position as secretary of the Houma Louisiana Chamber of Commerce for a very short time, but journalism was in his blood. He was eventually appointed sports editor of The Times Picayune, and held this post for the last 17 years of his life. He had an abiding interest in all aspects of conservation and was a visionary, far ahead of his time.
“LOWA does not present the award very often but when it does, the recipient is certainly most deserving,” said Chris Holmes, President of LOWA.
Harris has been a long-time member of LOWA, receiving his BS degree from Northwestern State University and graduate degree from Louisiana State University. He is married, has three daughters, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Harris began his outdoor writing career as a side-line in 1972 with articles in the Homer Guardian Journal. He currently writes for 10 newspapers and broadcasts four outdoor radio programs weekly on Ruston stations, KXKZ and ESPN earning more than 50 Excellence in Craft Awards from LOWA and the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (SEOPA).