Bradley Harris for ATD
ATD Memphis invites you to hear Bradley Harris. An exclusive event to ATD Memphis members and their guests on Tuesday, January 9, 2017 at Bethel University. Lunch will be served at 11:30 AM, presentation from 12 noon to 12:45 PM, and 12:45 PM to 1:00 PM a brief post discussion of the material covered by the presenters.
Bradley Harris has been involved in training and development since shortly before the earth’s crust began cooling—since 1974, to be exact. That’s 1974 A.D., if it matters.
Among the organizations he’s served as a trainer: Supply and Services Canada, Syncrude Canada Limited, The Canadian Armed Forces, Alberta Manpower, Bosch Tool Corporation, Family Dollar Corporation, the United States Navy, and many others.
It surprises some—not others—to know that Brad’s an old infantry officer, with service in four regiments of the Canadian army. He looks, he says, quite nasty in a kilt.
Brad holds a BA with concentrations in archaeology and linguistics…a Juris Doctor degree…and a Master of Fine Arts in English (creative writing, with theses in short fiction and theatre). He has taught in the graduate school of management at the University of Calgary, taught linguistics at LeMoyne Owen College, taught various English-related courses at The University of Memphis, taught adjunct and industry-related courses for The University of Memphis and Mid-South Community College. He is now an Adjunct Instructor at Rhodes College in the Department of Theatre, where he teaches public speaking to business and science students.
Brad is an enthusiastic member of BNI—Business Network International—for whom he has co-founded a special BNI Toastmasters club along with BNI franchisee Jana Cardona. He is in fact a Toastmasters lifer. Brad freely admits he’s hooked on Toastmasters. An addict. Even if there’s a twelve-step recovery program, he’s not joining. A five-time Distinguished Toastmaster, Brad has twice served as district governor and is a past region advisor. He is now serving as a Pathways guide, mentoring Memphis clubs in the new Toastmasters Pathways educational program. He talks a lot.
While Brad continues to train, he prefers now to write and edit, spending his time writing on contract for other trainers, designing training…creating training materials… editing non-fiction books…editing fiction…and teaching creative writing in ways other people don’t. His new-found delight: teaching creative writing to bright, intellectually starved teens whose parents want them to study mathematics and other “practical” stuff.
Bradley Harris has published two prizewinning short novels, both detective fiction set in Memphis: Ruby Ruby (1999) and Thorazine Beach (2013), both from Vancouver’s Anvil Press. His full-length play prizewinning play Incoming saw the stage in Memphis and Los Angeles. His short stories have won prizes and fast faded from view. But they are, he hopes, artfully enough wrought to warrant their appearance in a collection in early 2019.
Brad is married to Liz Deeley, an editor and fellow English major hundreds of years his junior. They live in a cozy wee house with seven stuffed monkeys, an imaginary dog named Webley, and thousands of books. Between Boggle games and chapters of Nordic noir, they enjoy cataloguing the grammatic peccadilloes of TV personalities.
