WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JACK HARDY?

Protesting the war was something that hit me on the personal level ... it wasn't abstract politics.

There was always a mystique about John Studebaker Hardy, the singing/songwriting University of Hartford student radical. In 1969, Hardy, student editor of UofH's The News-Liberated Press, was arrested and convicted of libel after publishing a lewd political cartoon that attacked then-President Richard M. Nixon. Although Hardy's conviction, with its $50 fine, was ultimately overturned on appeal, this UofH alumnus remains the only person in the history of this country who was ever arrested and convicted of libeling the president of the United States.

PDT: Let's start at the beginning. When were you at UofH?

JH: 'Sixty-five to '70. I was on the Communist five-year plan.

PDT: Describe the political climate at UofH in the late '60s and some of the people who had an influence over you.

JH: People forget about what that era was, but it was virtual loggerheads between students and administrators at that point. I tried to cross those boundaries a lot by developing friendships with administrators. Hector Prud'homme was a very interesting man and a close friend of mine. I'd go out to his old colonial house, and we'd have dinner. We had a line of communication. I think, between the two of us, we kept that University very peaceful, and although there were plenty of demonstrations, none of them became violent.

PDT: It seems that UofH was a pretty fertile breeding ground for you, for your own development.

JH: It was a great education, though none of it had to do with the classroom, with very few exceptions. But I got a great education in everything from diplomacy to journalism to graphics to management to sociology.

PDT: Turning to the infamous arrest, what did that experience do to you?

JH: The purpose behind my being arrested was intimidation because I was running the student demonstrations at that point. It was a trumped-up charge and totally unconstitutional. But what it taught me was that you can't change the system from within--the odds are too stacked against you. Believe me, when you're facing a year and a half in jail for what it's your constitutional right to do, it's no longer Perry Mason. It changes the way you look at the legal system and journalism--everything. That's when I decided I was going back to music, and if I were going to change anything, I'd do it through my music. But I didn't let them win. A year later, I was still editing the paper and running the demonstrations, and doing an ever-better job.

PDT: Did you have the opportunity to bail at any time, to say your mea culpas and get out of that?

JH: Oh, yeah, sure. They offered us plea bargains. They offered us everything. And if I'd had to pay for it, I might have considered it. [Jack was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.]

PDT: Who were some of the other people at UofH who had an impact on you?

JH: George Michael Evica was a big influence on me, writing-wise. There was also Joseph Doyle, who used to have his poetry classes at his house.

PDT: Have you stayed in touch with anyone from those days?

JH: Tim Michaels and Ewart Skinner.

PDT: Is there something that stands out in your mind as your greatest contribution or greatest achievement when you were at UofH?

JH: I don't know, I think we [The UH News-Liberated Press] allowed people an outlet that kept the University peaceful, as opposed to violent. We also allowed people a whole different place to identify with, as opposed to fraternities and sororities. Another identity that embraced artists and writers, poets and musicians, and political people. Sometimes we had 110 people working on the paper. And anyone who had a problem turned to us for help with abortions and advice on things they couldn't get anywhere else.

PDT: What about the "Hardy mystique," the mystery that seemed to surround you, things like the rumored Studebaker connection?

JH: That's a family name. My great-great-grandfather was one of five brothers who started the company. Originally, it was a wagon works. But driving a Studebaker--the flowered ties, the saddle shoes, and any number of other affectations--definitely perpetuated that sense of mystery.

PDT: So, were they conscious affectations?

JH: Some were, but I just did what I liked. I was free enough that if I wanted to be outrageous, I'd be outrageous. But I don't think I was outrageous just for the sake of outrageousness. I wasn't into that kind of street theater.

PDT: So, what have you been doing for the last 30 years, playing and writing music?

JH: I've also had eight plays produced that involved music as well, and I started and edited the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, which published over 100 issues that came with a full-length recording. This pretty much started the whole modern folk scene. The whole collection is being taken over by the Smithsonian. We have a songwriter's workshop that has gone on for almost 23 years and meets every week, when we try on new material. It's spawned a lot of great writers.

PDT: What do you think you'll be doing ten years from now? Think you'll still be doing the same thing?

JH: Oh, yeah. I'm still experimenting with my writing. I've been trying to piece back together the traditions of old Bardic culture from thousands of years ago in terms of the poetics and magic of songwriting. It will take me my whole lifetime to work on that.

Little-known facts about Jack Hardy

(Or, did you know? Bet you wouldn't have guessed.)

Original major: Opera, The Hartt School

One-time roommates: Ben Holden, Jimmy Diamond, Bill Wallach

Member, Theta Chi fraternity

Member, club-football and wrestling teams

Jack's band at UofH: Some Dead Bears

Jack has recorded over 12 albums

Jack's Web site (maintained by a fan):
www.Jackhardy.com

"Whatever happened to...," a new feature of The Observer, is written by Paul D. Tieger (B.A. '73; M.S. '83). If you'd like to know whatever happened to someone you went to school with, contact Paul at 860-233-1396 or at Paul@personalitytype.com. Who knows, maybe your old friend will turn up in the next column!