April 13, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

G’twn activist uses music to teach love of animals
by CAROLE VERONA

Song writer and animal activist Jim Harris with his 11-year-old cat, Belle.

Doctor Doolittle talked to the animals. Jim Harris talks — or to be more precise, sings — for them.

A long-time Germantown resident, the 59-year-old Harris’ love for animals began before he could even speak. He remembers always bringing strays home, much to his mother’s chagrin.

So it was no surprise in the early 1970s that Harris went down to the Ethical Society of Philadelphia to hear a lecture by Cleveland Amory, noted animal welfare activist. Amory, founder of the Fund for Animals, asked if anyone in the audience was interested in starting a local chapter. Harris, along with three others, signed up. And that’s when he also started writing and singing songs about animals. He has been a vegetarian since 1972 and a vegan for the last three years.

Jim has won several awards for his clever songs, whose purpose (in addition to entertainment) is to spread the message of compassion and kindness to animals.

A dedicated musician, Harris began playing guitar when he was 10 and later took up the cello. He studied at Settlement Music School in Germantown, and then attended Combs College of Music. He also played cello in the Chestnut Hill Community Orchestra for a number of years.

A 1965 graduate of Cardinal Dougherty High School, Harris worked at the Mt. Airy Post Office for 10 years and then quit his job to pursue a full-time career in music. “That was at the height of disco,” he said. “I toured a bit with a disco group called The Flames. We played at the Jersey shore and up and down the east coast, but the lifestyle wasn’t for me.” He also did a one-year stint as the mascot for the Philadelphia 76ers. He currently freelances as a videographer, taping depositions and other legal proceedings. This arrangement allows him to pursue his commitment to music and to educating others — through music — about the plight of animals.

“In the early days, I used to write to animal rights groups and ask if I could play at their affairs. As a result, over the years I’ve been invited to perform at events sponsored by the Cultures and Animal Foundation, the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) and various vegetarian societies. People would hear about me, and word just got around. It’s a niche … and something I love to do.”

Jim and his best friend, Ollie, who is 11.

Some of Harris’ songs were written for specific purposes. He composed “Just Like You,” for example, after seeing a caged peacock in a circus. “How sad he looked,” he observed. Another song, “Terrible Ted,” was written in response to a call he received from a woman in California who was trying to save a wrestling bear she had seen on TV. “When she went around and did radio shows to promote her cause, she would play my song as part of her campaign. She wasn’t able to save the bear, but she did some good anyway by letting people know how poorly these performing animals are treated,” he added.

One of his favorite compositions, “What Else Is Kindness For?,” is about a homeless man who took up residence with his dog outside The Four Seasons Hotel on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. “One day I stopped and talked with him. He made clothes for the dog and gave it showers in the summer. It broke my heart. He wouldn’t go to the shelters because they wouldn’t take dogs. This song is about the fact that everybody needs somebody or something to care for,” Harris said. In the song, he wrote:

“No love is ever wasted.

No kindness is too small.

There’s time to do it all.

If you don’t mind, tell me

If you ain’t blind, tell me

What else is kindness for?”

Harris lost track of this man until a year ago when he was told that the man had died. “They had a burial mass for him at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral … so he certainly had an effect on a lot of people,” the Germantown musician added. In 1996, Harris won first prize from the Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists for this song.

Seven years ago, Harris teamed up with Martha Michael and Molly Mahoney to form the St. Mad trio. The three met at St. Madeline Sophie Church in Mt. Airy. They play a mix of pop, folk and jazz. They’ve performed at Walk a Crooked Mile Bookstore in the Mt. Airy Train Station, the Folk Factory at the Unitarian Church of the Restoration, Weavers Way Co-op and at various open mic nights in the area. “We like to play at charitable events and fund raisers. I’m happy doing that,” he said. The group is also putting together a CD, and several of Harris’ compositions about animals are on it. They’ll perform at an Alternative Circus on May 21 at the Rotunda in University City.

Harris and his fiancé, Zipora Schulz, an art teacher, will be married in May. They live in Germantown with their dog, Ollie, and two cats, Belle and Harry, a three-legged cat rescued by Harris.

Harris’s art and passion can be summarized in “A Force of Nature,” a 15-minute operetta, for which he won “Outstanding National Activist Award” in 2003 from the Culture and Animals Foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I had been playing at their annual festival for a number of years, and when they presented me with this award, I wanted to write something specifically for the occasion. I wanted to thank all the people for being such a source of strength,” he said. The song recounts how he became an animal rights activist and why this is his mission in life. “Every creature has a story,” he wrote and sang, “and it takes some time to tell. I was born to tell this story, and I hope I did it well.”

For further information, contact Jim Harris at 215-848-4225, or visit his website at www.jimbobsjournal.com.