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Harold C. Livesay was born June 13, 1934, in
Louisville, Kentucky. Before turning his attention to
academic pursuits, he toiled at several occupations, with
fluctuating success. Among these were tomato picker, ferry
boat deckhand, telephone repairman, railroad yardmaster,
self-employed painter of bull-dozers, parachutist in the 82d
Airborne Division of the United States Army, steel trucker,
and numerous others. Following this period of peregrinating
odd-jobbery (during which he acquired a love for travel, an
expensive skiing habit, a curiosity about American history,
and five children), Mr. Livesay yearned for a less laborious,
more mentally stimulating way of life and, therefore, sought
solace in the printed page. His singleminded dedication to
his new career resulted in a B.A. from the University of
Delaware in 1966, an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University in
1968, and an uninterrupted flow of publications on topics in
and out of economic history.
After receiving his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in
June, 1970, Mr. Livesay accepted a position in the History
Department of the University of Michigan, where he was
employed until 1978, to the benefit of the citizens of the
state and to the intense relief of his creditors. In 1978 he
removed his seat of operations to the State University of New
York at Binghamton. In 1981, emulating many of the industries
he studies, Mr. Livesay moved south, becoming Head of the
History Department of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University at Blacksburg, Va. Thence, he departed in 1987 for
Texas A & M University where he became, in September, 1988,
the Clifford A. Taylor Professor in Liberal Arts and lived
happily ever after. |
