Stan Harms (1929-2004): A Tribute

The loss of Stan in late January 2004 is deeply felt by many students, colleagues, friends and people world-wide who support the broad principles of the Right to Communicate. To enrich the story of this remarkable man who led an achieving, hopeful life, I have included tributes from three colleagues close to Stan — Dan Wedemeyer, Michael Ogden and Lloyd Sommerlad.

Wedemeyer, a colleague of Stan at the University of Hawaii, served as Secretary of the Right to Communicate Working Group organised by Stan, and has stepped up as Chair. Here is what he wrote:

‘With deep sorrow we reflect on the passing of Professor L. S. Harms. Dr Harms touched many lives as an educator, researcher, family man and friend. His work on the Right to Communicate spanned four decades. His research addressed the need for all humans to have the Right to Communicate. Dr Harms touched the lives of more than 5,000 students. An optimistic futurist at every thing he pursued, Stan encouraged people from all walks to engage in the work. Dr Harms viewed the Right to Communicate as more than an educational or academic endeavour. He saw it as a way of life.’

For years Stan inspired his students and colleagues from his teaching position at the University of Hawaii. One of his students, Michael Ogden, offered the following tribute:

‘Stan Harms’s book, Intercultural Communication‚ (1973, Harper & Row), revolutionised the way I saw the world. As I headed to Fiji as a Peace Corps volunteer, I read about communicating across cultures. His book convinced me to do a Master’s degree with him. Stan exposed me to a broader, futures-oriented‚ view of the world and communication. I gained an interdisciplinary approach to the impact of modern information and communication technologies on society, especially indigenous populations in the developing world.

Stan’s efforts on behalf of the human right to communicate‚ and his Socratic teaching method often challenged and frustrated me as a graduate student, yet just as often left me with a deeper appreciation of the long-view, big picture‚ issues. Stan was always encouraging his students and took obvious joy in our intellectual growth and with us celebrated our accomplishments.’

Lloyd Sommerlad was instrumental in development of the Right to Communicate. An essential part of the RtC development came from Lloyd’s work in the UNESCO Communication Programme in Paris. With the broad support of UNESCO and of the leaders in his sector, meetings and papers followed. Here is Lloyd’s tribute:

‘Professor Stan Harms was involved with the early discussions on the Right to Communicate through his membership of the International Broadcast Institute (later International Institute of Communications) of which Jean d’Arcy was President. He helped develop the concept at a working group of the Institute and was largely responsible for initiating the moves for the Right to be included in the work programme of UNESCO.

In 1974, Stan worked with me when I was on study leave from UNESCO at the East-West Communication Institute in Honolulu, to explore the opportunities of involving the United Nations in this evolving human right. Together with Jim Richstad, then at the Institute, a working paper and Resolution were drafted for presentation at the General Conference of UNESCO. With the co-operation of the Swedish delegation a resolution was presented and included in the Programme to analyse the Right to Communicate. Stan was consistently involved in UNESCO meetings and reports, which placed the concept firmly on the international agenda. Stan later established a network of scholars and media practitioners from many countries to write and publish on the subject and created a website that promotes the Right.’

Stan worked closely with the ‘father’ of the Right to Communicate, Jean d’Arcy (France), among other people around the world. He produced many articles and publications, including The Right to Communicate: A New Human Right, co-edited with Desmond Fisher (Ireland). Stan was clear from the beginning: the Right to Communicate was not likely to be fully achieved in his lifetime, or even many lifetimes. It was a goal.
My personal relationship with Stan started when he was a professor at the University of Hawaii, and I was a research associate at the East-West Centre on the UH campus. It was hard sometimes for me and others to grasp his and D’Arcy’s vision of what communication could and should be.

D’Arcy’s pioneering ‘Direct Broadcast Satellites and the Right to Communicate’, (see ) opened the door to a transformation of communication rights from a mass media-based one-way communication system to a multiway system possible with the new technologies. Today’s Internet is a vibrant example of what D’Arcy and Harms were visualizing.

Stan and I started weekly meetings, alternating between our homes (we lived two blocks apart). The sessions were intense, he argued his broad visions, and I argued concrete practicality. Out of it came some of the basic ideas and documents of the Right to Communicate.

Stan originated graduate seminars on the Right to Communicate at UH and travelled the world to talk about RtC. He insisted the RtC was for everyone, not just those running the media or who had easy access it. Most of the world’s knowledge, Stan said, was in people’s heads, and they should be able to talk to everyone, not just their families or neighbours.

Needless to say, D’Arcy’s and Stan’s thoughts were revolutionary. A question I often ask about others is: ‘Who will sing your songs when you are gone?’ Stan’s song reverberates around the world: ‘Everyone has the Right to Communicate’.

Jim Richstad left the East-West Center in 1982 for a professorship at the University of Oklahoma. He took leave for a year to teach at China School of Journalism 1987-88 and at National University of Singapore 1993-94. He retired from Oklahoma in 1995 and taught at Nanyang Technological University for three years, returning to his home area of Seattle, Washington. From here, he teaches one term at Central Washington University and continues with seminars in the Pacific Islands and journal reviews and referees.