Harvey Gittler. I have no middle name or initial so in my dotage I became H. Lipman Gittler adopting my mother's family name. To further embellish my image, I added "Noted Author, Lecturer, and Explore" to my name. My business card now reads "Harvey Gittler, a.k.a. H. Lipman Gittler, Noted Author, Lecturer, and Explorer." For you younger people, many years ago there was a columnist for the New York Hearst newspaper by the name of Floyd Gibson. He was at that time a noted author, lecturer, and explorer. That little phrase stuck with me all these years and so along with my mother's family name, I adopted Floyd Gibson's title. So you are now reading about Harvey Gittler, a.k.a. H. Lipman Gitter, Noted Author, Lecturer, and Explorer. I hope you are duling impressed.

Address: 86 Kendal Drive, Oberlin, OH 44074-1904

Phone: 1-440-774-1204

Fax: I can send and receive faxes at 440-775-9820. Those faxes are received and go out through the Kendal reception desk. So if you are sending a fax, you should indicate some place that it is for Harvey Gittler.

Hello, I am Harvey Gittler (nmi). I live in Oberlin, Ohio and have lived here since 1968. I am not really a member of the Oberlin College faculty although I do have standing as an "Affiliate Scholar," a lofty position that allows me to take books out of the library for an unlimited period of time. (A privilege I need because I read so slowly.)

Right now, I'm beginning my abbreviated life story for the Internet.

I was born in NYC in 1922 and then moved to Oberlin.

Adding a little more, I went to NYU for two years, then into the service (the Maritime Service - Merchant Marine) via the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, then to North Carolina State University for a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering.

I worked in industry for 40 years, rising from a lowly industrial engineer to executive vice-president and member of the board of directors. Along the way, I picked up an M.I.E. degree from NYU.

I worked for many companies but we won't go into that just now. Suffice to say I've lived in Raleigh, NC; Catskill, Albany, and Yonkers, NY; West Hartford and Stamford, CT; and Oberlin, OH (last 42 years).

Early in my working career I started writing articles for trade and engineering journals. I was a contributing editor to Industry Week magazine, a bi- weekly industry publication, Administrative Radiology , everyone's favorite journal (I bet you let your subscription lapse). I have also written for The Wall Street Journal, R&D; Innovator, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and any other publication that will publish my writings. These writings are on business subjects, general subjects, and humor. In essence, I consider myself an essayist and my idol is the late E.B. White, but I have a long way to go.

In October 1998, I became a weekly columnist for the Elyria Chronicle Telegram . My columns were available on the Internet until the editor moved me to the editorial page. As yet, the editorial page is not on line and so my columns are not available at this time to my great international audience. However, I now have a Blog entry with the Chroncile Telegram and so if you click here you will be connected to the Chronicle Telegram in living color. On the left hand side of the page is an entry, Newsroom Blogs. Click on that and you will go directly to the blog page. You'll see my picture. Click somewhere on that and my blogs will appear. But as of this date (7/2/07) the column itself is not available. But the staff is working on that. Not too diligently, but eventually.

If you'd like a copy of any one of my articles, do write and I'll send you one or two. But warning! You may get more ducks than you want. Incidentally, I had an article that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal reprinted in some issues of the April, 1996 Readers' Digest, somewhat of an accomplishment.

My wife (Naomi Barnett) and I run a Writers' Workshop at the Grafton Correctional Institution, a state prison near Oberlin. We have a class of six or seven inmates who are talented writers. Right now, we're trying to put together a anthology of life inside prison. In addition, some of the inmates have had articles published in various newspapers. More about this project at a later date.

Among my many other academic accomplishments (don't ask me to list them), is my unusual position as Emeritus Professor of Page Turning. I was once Professor of Page Turning at the Oberlin Conservatory and possibly the only professor of page turning in the entire world - and certainly the only Professor of Page Turning who really can't read music.

A couple of years ago, I had an article published in the Wall Street Journal entitled "One Good Turn Deserves Another", an article all about page turning, urging page turners to demand their rightful place in the concert world: their name on the program and the right to take a solo bow as well as bowing with the principals.

This resulted in the president of Oberlin College at that time (Fred Starr) appointing me Professor of Page Turning at an annual salary of five beers a year. I had great difficulty collecting my salary. However, I was greatly honored by this appointment considering that I can hardly read music. That, I might add, says something about Oberlin College appointments.

On the political side of life, I'm something of a rebel. Thus, when I moved to Oberlin I became active in the American Civil Liberties Union: the national office, the Ohio affiliate, and the North-Central Ohio Chapter (Oberlin Chapter). I have been chairperson of the local chapter for years and was elected a life member of the board.

At the State level, I was a delegate to the State Board and in time became secretary, treasurer, vice-president, and then president for four years. When, in the late 80's, the State organization was in deep financial trouble and there was a great schism between the State and Cleveland, I volunteered to become Executive Director of the ACLU of Ohio.

With the help of Ira Glasser, the national executive director, and Norman Dorsen, the then-national president, we were able to resolve that problem by moving the headquarters for the State from Columbus to Cleveland. That breech was then resolved and the state organization has survived. Long live the ACLU of Ohio.

In "My Immediate Family" you will see pictures of my daughter and her family and my son and his family. Amy and family live in Phoenix, AZ and Marshall and his family live in Singapore after 18 years in Tokyo. Amy and her husband Michael are lawyers. Marshall is an economist dealing mostly with Asian economics. Nobuko, my daughter-in-law, holds an MBA from M.I.T. (which impresses the hell out of me) and had been the chief financial officer of the Japanese branch of an English company. She is now at home raising her daughters Rina and Mariko.  

Amy specializes in employment law. Her claim to fame is that she argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 and prevailed. This case, the Arizona Governing Committee v Norris, gave women the same pension as men under Title VII.

Naomi's daughter Amy is married to Al Goldfarb and they have a son Aaron. Amy (that's Naomi's Amy, not Harvey's Amy). Amy lives in upeer New York State just above Schnectady. She works for some social agency. Al is a artist doing sculpturing and other art work. Their son Aaron goes to Guilford College in North Carolina. He should graduate soon but we're not holding our breath.

To see my Immediate Family, click here.

To see my Extended Family click here.

I have made links to the listings of my various publications. The articles themselves are not attached, just the name, date, and publication source are listed on my title page.

To see the list of Restaurant Reviews click here.

To see the list of General Publications click here.

To see the list of Opinion Columns click here.

There's a lot more to tell -- family, children, and other wonders -- but that will have to wait until the next editing.

I'd love to hear from you, whoever and wherever you are.

E-Mail Address: Harvey.Gittler@oberlin.edu

Last Edit Date: 08/02/07