William Harrison

"Start fast, end lyrical," William Harrison's advice to hundreds of aspiring writers, was also a metaphor for his life. The novelist and screenwriter died Oct. 22 at his home in Fayetteville, Ark. He was 79. Mr. Harrison was the author of nine novels and three volumes of short stories as well as numerous travel stories and essays for leading magazines. His futurist short story Roller Ball Murder, became a popular movie in the 1970s. His novel Burton and Speke, based on the exploration of the Nile by Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, was made into the movie "Mountains of the Moon," for which he wrote the screenplay. Many of his stories were edged in black. Roller Ball Murder, originally published in Esquire in 1973, set the tone. The movie, for which he wrote the screenplay, was re-titled Rollerball. It was directed by Norman Jewison and starred James Caan. It described a "not too distant future" when everything, from government and business to education and entertainment, is run by corporations. With his friend James Whitehead, the poet, Mr. Harrison founded the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas in 1965. The program became one of the nation's leading schools for aspiring writers and poets. Mr. Harrison traveled widely in Africa. Five of his novels, Burton and Speke, Africana, Savannah Blue, Three Hunters, and The Blood Latitudes, were set there. He retired from teaching in 1998 and devoted himself to writing. His last novel, Black August, was published in 2011. He loved baseball, particularly the hapless Chicago Cubs. He said, "the Cubs sentence me to a lifetime of frustration and disappointment, but they are a good democratic, working man's team." He loved trout fishing but he wasn't very good at it. He enjoyed golf but he was terrible. His mouth, however, said his friends, was a known hazard. He occasionally played guitar, sang and wrote songs with his sons. William Neal Harrison was born Oct. 29, 1933, in Dallas. He was adopted by Samuel, a barber, and Mary Harrison, a housewife. A cousin once said that when the couple, who had intended to adopt a girl, found blue-eyed Bill, it was like the farm couple who found Superman in a field. He earned degrees from Texas Christian and Vanderbilt universities. He published his first short story while attending the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1961. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973, a Christopher Award for television in 1979, and the Columbia School of Journalism Prize in association with Esquire magazine. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Merlee Portman Harrison; two sons, Sean and Quentin Harrison; a daughter, Laurie Harrison Karnatz; three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Leslie. A memorial will be held at 4 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Blair Library in Fayetteville. A reception will immediately follow. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the William N. Harrison & James T. Whitehead Memorial Fund, Fayetteville Community Foundation, P.O. Box 997, Fayetteville, Ark. 72702.