My friend Bill Harmless (Baker, ’75) died suddenly the other night. He was a remarkable person, relentlessly curious, engaged and engaging. After graduating from Rice with a degree in English he joined the Peace Corps, then the Jesuits. I first met him when he arrived as a faculty member at my alma mater, Creighton University, and was lucky enough to spend hours in conversation with him about whatever caught our fancy. (Good heavens, he could talk! Seriously. There were no short conversations with Bill Harmless.) He loved his time at Rice, especially time spent with Dr. Charles Garside, who he grew to resemble in his impact on students. He was a gifted teacher and a gifted scholar and I will miss him terribly.
The best thing I’ve read about him is this blog post written by one of his colleagues at Creighton. Take a look.
William Harmless, SJ. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on him.
Too soon, too young. Melissa, I am sorry for your loss.
I am sorry to hear this news. I knew Bill fairly well our Freshman year, in 1971, at Baker, where that photo was taken in probably my best friend’s room. Among other things I think he was of our group discovering the lovely madness of Firesign Theater late into the night. I have seen him in that jacket often. I am just finding this blog – hence the lateness of this reply.
He had a very sharp mind, even among those at Rice. And was quite mature at 18.