Honoring Harold (Hal) Grutzmacher

Writing about the Chicago Cubs and studying the Romantic poets: Harold (Hal) Grutzmacher’s literary passions. The diverse personality of the man, the reader, the writer, the poet, the columnist, the critic, the editor, the teacher, and the bookstore owner this issue honors is reflected in the varied creative works throughout the following pages.

“He had a good and skilled ear,” says Steve Grutzmacher of his father. “He could read your stuff and provide criticism without telling you how it should be done.”

The winning prose, poetry, and photography speak of two elements Grutzmacher stressed throughout his years in higher education – first as an English professor at Carthage College, then Knox College, a chairman of the English Department at Parsons College, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Tampa, and Dean of Students at his alma mater, Beloit College –individuality and craft. Through encouragement and kind criticism, he influenced a generation of students and community members – the Hal Grutzmacher’s Writers’ Expose and Photography Jubilee hopes to continue in the same spirit, encouraging artists of all levels and interests.