FILMS

Harris has written, directed and acted in two award-winning films.

FLESH ORGY OF THE ZOMBIE TOTEM, Harris's first film, won a coveted Golden Zombie Award at its world premiere at the notorious ZombieDance film festival in Austin.
(Right: Harris as Prof Gorden in Flesh Orgy)>>

FLESH ORGY OF THE ZOMBIE TOTEM also won the "BC Spirit Award" at the Bearded Child Film Festival, given for "the film that best represents the vanguard, guerilla-style filmmaking the Bearded Child festival is all about." It won an award at the Fort Lauderdale Underground Film Festival, and was nominated for two awards at the Ripon Cinemaniacs Festival.

FLESH ORGY OF THE ZOMBIE TOTEM has played at about a dozen film festivals across America.                                                                                                                   

Harris's second film, SEASON'S GREETINGS, had its World Premiere at Baltimore's acclaimed MicroCineFest. MicroCineFest called it "jaw-dropping."

SEASON'S GREETINGS has played about two dozen film festivals and events,   and won a Juror's Special Recognition prize at the Bearded Child Film Festival.

WRITING

ARTICLES

Harris has published hundreds of articles in numerous publications, ranging from some of the world's most influential publications to some of the strangest and most notorious. They include THE NATION, REASON, THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION (South’s largest paper), CREATIVE LOAFING (largest “alternative” weekly in America), THE FREEMAN (from America's first free-market think tank), THE SPLATTER TIMES (“The World’s Most Violent Magazine”), TRASHOLA, GALLERY, Larry Flynt's HUSTLER and CHIC, among many others.

Harris has been a Finalist in the Mencken Awards, given by the Free Press Association for “Outstanding Journalism in Defense of Liberty.” His winning article, a look at censorship in America, led to the creation of a national anti-censorship trade organization. He was Georgia winner of the national Phillip Morris "Freedom: Worth Writing For" essay contest, and his winning essay is published in the book American Voices.

Harris edits THE LIBERATOR ONLINE, the world's largest-circulation libertarian newsletter, which he co-founded a decade ago. Beginning with about 200 readers, it now has over 70,000 subscribers in over 100 countries.

He has appeared on dozens of talk radio shows across America discussing his writing.

See the WRITING link above to read a selection of his articles.

SHORT FICTION: Harris had three stories selected for the international 2007 55 Word Fiction contest, held by New Times magazine. To read his winning entries and other 55-word "flash fiction" stories, see WRITING, above.

POETRY: Harris has written poetry on subjects ranging from Tonya Hardings' butt to the evils of the State. Read a sampling of his published and unpublished poetry at WRITING, above.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Harris has written zillions of letters to newspapers, ranting about the state of the world and the idiocy of many of its inhabitants, especially those who rule us. Read a selection of some of the best at WRITING, above.

MUSIC

Harris started playing punk rock in 1973, in Columbus, Georgia. With Bob Swygert he formed the band Scum of the Earth, with him singing and playing guitar, Swygert on drums, and, later, Chuck Barber on bass. They took the name from a film showing at a drive-in they frequented.

<< LEFT: CHUCK BARBER, BOB SWYGERT, circa 1977.

Knowing virtually nothing about music or instruments, they played with near-total technical incompetence using amazingly bad equipment (tiny almost inaudible garage-sale amps that gave literally no distortion, a guitar that could not stay in tune, a bass that sounded like pieces of wood slammed together, etc.). Song titles -- "We Are Scum," "Attack of the Giant Turnip From Outer Space," "Nothing To Do," "Rubber Love" -- give an indication of their punk sensibilities.

In 1973, pre-Ramones, pre-Sex Pistols, there were few bands in the world playing, or trying to play, Stooges- and MC5- influenced music, and probably none in Georgia. So, as bad as the racket they produced arguably was, it at least put them well ahead of their time.

Scum of the Earth left no recordings except some awful practice cassettes, and never played anywhere except rehearsals. (Although two of those rehearsals were attended by a guest, so if those qualify as "shows" -- a huge stretch, granted -- then this may well have been the first punk rock band in Georgia.)

In 1978 Harris moved to Auburn, Alabama, and Scum of the Earth became Last Exit, with Harris on guitar and vocals, Barber on bass, and Lloyd Malone on drums.

>>> RIGHT: HARRIS, LAST EXIT, PRIOR TO 1979 AUBURN SHOW 

Last Exit was, as far as Harris knows, the first overtly punk rock band in Alabama. They performed one concert at Auburn University, drawing a huge, stunned, and incredulous crowd, and unfortunately released no recordings.

<<<<  LEFT: LLOYD MALONE, LAST EXIT, 1979

Last Exit moved to Atlanta in 1980, with Bob Swygert returning on drums, but exploded for various reasons without ever playing another show.

While living in Auburn Harris also created and dee-jayed the first known punk rock radio show in Alabama: "Best of New Wave Rock," WEGL,1978-1979. ("New Wave" at the time was synonymous with "punk," but sounded less offensive, and the use of that term let the show -- which played Stooges, Sex Pistols, MC5, New York Dolls, Ramones, etc. -- get on the air.)

TODAY: After Last Exit broke up, Harris continued to play music, though sidelined  for a while by fibromyalgia and tinnitus. Hear a sampling of his current music by visiting MUSIC, top of this page.

PAINTINGS AND OTHER ART

Harris has created hundreds of paintings, drawings, and other artwork. Examples can be seen by clicking on ART, above.

COMICS

Samples will soon be at this site.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Look for photo galleries at this site soon. Subjects will include cannibal pig barbeque signs, palm reader signs, buildings, doors, muffler men, strange bars, and more.

OTHER BACKGROUND

Before entering the field of journalism, Harris delivered newspapers, sniffed out-of-date milk at a dairy to see if it was sufficiently unspoiled to be recycled into chocolate milk, scraped dried cement off construction poles, and did temp work in numerous warehouses.

In 1993, CRUD BOMB magazine named Harris “Bishop of the Gamera Flicks” for his passion for that distinctive Japanese monster movie series. Harris is an ordained minister in the Church of the SubGenius, and a card-carrying member of the International Order of Turtles (initiated in 1980).

Harris is a libertarian and Libertarian Party member He has run two historic races for statewide office in Georgia on a platform to abolish the office he was running for -- the Georgia Public Service Commission, a wretched and destructive cabal that victimizes consumers and shields fatcat utility monopolies from competition. In his first race he (and two other Libertarian PSC candidates) won enough votes to win statewide ballot status for the Libertarian Party in Georgia, the first time any third party candidates had achieved this in modern times, and something no other party has matched since. In his second run he was endorsed by the state's second-largest newspaper, the alternative weekly CREATIVE LOAFING, and received ten times the number of votes needed to swing the election.

In the past he has lifted his body weight overhead, run 26 miles, and swum 4 miles.