About the Author

James N. Harrell was born in Selma, Alabama in 1924. He flew 28 missions as a B-17 gunner during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of California (Berkeley) and did post-graduate studies at The Sorbonne. In 2006, Harrell announced the Jim Harrell Poetry Scholarship Awards, open to Alabama high school students. Winners will be recognized at the Mentevallo Literary Festival, held every year in April. Additionally, Harrell donated to the libraries of every Alabama high school and college, public and private, a copy of These I Would Keep, an anthology of verse by Alabama’s poet laureates, edited by Helen F. Blackshear, eighth poet laureate, and his Civil War novel, Their Last Ten Miles.

Reviews

February Mission is a rich and various collection of James N. Harrell's most recent poems and plays. It's wonderful to see his mature--and lyric--sensibility express itself in so many different ways. The poems range from the simple lyric to moving historical reference to displays of subtle wit, as in the poem entitled 'Cogito Ergo Iamb, ' in which the somberness of death and erotic vitality are wonderfully mingled: 'For the iamb says it best --/When the bedsprings' peppy rhythms/Wake the dead.' What a delight!--Leonard Wolf, writer

February Mission, a treasure of a book, exhibits the many gifts that make Jim Harrell a powerful writer. First is his mastery of language, his ability to turn words into rare combinations that produce the aha effect in the reader. A partial list of his other gifts would include his humor, his impressive talent for characterization, his sensitivity to the world around him translated seamlessly onto the printed page. (At least, he makes it seem easy as he writes poetry on many subjects.) Do read this unusual book that combines poetry and drama in 253 pages that seem much too short.--Carolyn Fleming "author of Journey Proud, Democracy Means Sharing, and Pensacola Holidays"

James Harrell continues to give us a glimpse of the remarkable journey he has lived across the 20th century. His latest collection of poems and plays in February Mission takes the breath away as we bear witness to his remarkable word portraits filled with style, grace, and texture that seem to whisper to us from the past. The title poem 'February Mission' is one of the most powerful war poems to have come out of World War II. The piece is a dramatic reminder of the horror of war and the price paid by both victor and victim. Harrell has painted a poignant canvas that is a stunning contribution to our literary sensibilities. I strongly commend February Mission to everyone, young and old. Harrell is a master storyteller.--Vernon Williams, professor of history and vice president of the Texas Oral History Association

My suggestion in reading Harrell's presentations is to NOT read sequentially through the poetry section and the plays. I would have developed my admiration for the compositions in total by first reading the foreword by Mr. Harrell's brother, Stanley, which is essential to understanding the diverse nature of the presentations, and then proceed to the poem entitled 'February Mission, ' and then to the play entitled The Visitor. I suggest reading each of these three times, focusing on content the first time, composition including rhyme the second time, and cogitation the third. After pursuing this introductory pathway, the mental stage is set for maximum enjoyment of the remainder in total or in part. Like the best composers of music, Harrell, as a composer of poetry and prose, writes at various levels for various participants. All will enjoy.--Robert Blizzard, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of Virginia