Mid-Michigan’s Own Jim Harrison Passes Away

Jim Harrison, who was born in Grayling, but was a product of Haslett High School (Class of '56) and Michigan State, and was one of the greatest of American authors, passed away Saturday. His most famous work is probably his novella Legends of the Fall, which became the basis of the film of the same name starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins.

Jim spent a lot of time, just like Ernest Hemingway, fishing and hunting in the Upper Peninsula - so that's where a lot his stories were set. He lived on a farm in Leelanau County until 2002, when he moved to Montana. He had another home in Patagonia, Arizona, just north of the Mexican border, and that's where he was when he passed away.

Jim Harrison wrote great characters because, like Hemingway, he was one himself.

If you were a fan (and, honestly, even if you've never heard of him) here are a couple of good interviews done with Harrison over the years.

The first, from MyNorth.com delves into his life in Michigan and later Montana. Some of the topics covered? Hunting, fishing, his favorite stump in the U.P. and grizzly bears.

The second, from TheParisReview.og in the summer of 1988, is a lot more about his creative life, including the five books he took with him when, at the age of seventeen, he left home to become a bohemian in New York City.

Hemingway, Harrison.....whaddya got next, Michigan?

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