Harry Jones is my kind of guy. About a year ago, he emailed out of the blue. I didn’t know him, though his email signature identified him as a lawyer working at a firm that overlooks the magazine’s downtown office. He sent along something he’d written, wanting to know if the magazine was interested. “It can double as TP,” he wrote. “But seriously, I think it’s something. A new angle for the Dallas literati who are tired of the same ‘When will my bar open?’ chatter.” And it turned out that what he’d sent along was something. Dude can write. So that’s one reason I dig his chili.
Another reason: Harry rides bicycles. I like bicycles. And what he’d written was a thoughtful piece about riding bicycles around the dams and reservoirs of North Texas. It wasn’t just about riding; it was about our relationship with water here in dry, ever-expanding North Texas.
I told Harry that we wanted to publish his essay. Like I said, that was nearly a year ago. The dude never once complained about the sometimes glacial publishing pace of a monthly magazine. Nor did he complain when we asked him to participate in a photo shoot at White Rock Lake when it was 16 degrees. I like patient people who don’t complain. His essay, along with his guide to where you can ride near water, ran in the April issue of D Magazine. It went online today.
Also, Harry sports a fantastic beard. What’s not to like?
