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The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in January, 1997.
Henry Kisor '62
Listening with his inner ear
Henry Kisor '62 is very aware of the power of language. As an author, book editor, and critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, and a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1981, he knows that when used skillfully the written word provokes new ideas, transports us to new places, and can inspire action. But language is most special to this veteran journalist because of its ability to connect us intimately to one another. Kisor is acutely aware of this connection because he is deaf."Because communication is more difficult for me than it is for hearing people, it is more precious. I think deeply about words because I want to choose those that will most easily reach the audience I am addressing," he said.
Kisor communicates with millions of people every year through his newspaper column and through his computer, modem, fax, and Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) Ñ all "instruments of liberation," he says. He lip-reads to communicate one-on-one and speaks with a voice he describes as "breathy and nasal, like rusty bathtub pipes, but clearly intelligible if the acoustic conditions are good." After 32 years in journalism, he clearly has found his place in this very verbal profession, using his critic's voice to assess the voice of others. \
Drinking in language
But Kisor did not always hear the voices of the distinguished authors he now critiques. It is an ability he first discovered in a sophomore English class at Trinity. "While reading Thomas Wolfe I learned to drink in the language by Ôlistening' to his prose with my inner ear," he recalled. "Words have definite and distinct vibrations, and I could roll them across my tongue, feeling how they thrummed my throat, cheeks, teeth, lips, and nose," he said. "The nnozze knowzz. My nostrils would resonate with each n, my lips with each o. The z brought forth a delicious low buzz on the tips of the front teeth," he remembered. "Galvanized" by the experience and fully enthralled by literature, he went on to graduate from Trinity with honors in English.
As enlightening as his experience was in his English classes, his time at the College was not without difficulty. Calculus proved particularly challenging, said Kisor. His freshman calculus professor, Charles A. Dana Professor of Mathematics (Emeritus) Robert Stewart, tutored him privately and, as a result, he passed the course and retained his Illinois Scholarship, Trinity's scholarship program for Illinois residents. "In 1991, when my son Colin graduated and Trinity awarded me an honorary doctoral degree, Bob Ôstood up' for me as my faculty escort at Commencement. That was one of the most moving and meaningful experiences of my life," he said.
Professor Stewart was equally impressed by his former student. "I had a lot of admiration for Henry," he said, reflecting on Kisor and the past. "Clearly he was a serious student and a determined young man. He is a gifted writer," he said.
Kisor participated in the interview for this Mosaic profile via e-mail from his Chicago office, where he specializes in writing about fiction and general nonfiction. He credits the critical thinking skills he acquired at Trinity with giving him an advantage at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he earned a master's degree with honors. Upon graduation, he became a copy editor for the Evening Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, wrote his first book reviews for the Journal's sister paper, the Morning News, in 1964, then returned to Illinois where he was named book editor at the Chicago Daily News in 1973. He assumed his current position at the Sun-Times in 1978.
Trains and planes Kisor wrote with power and wry humor about his hearing impairment in What's That Pig Outdoors? A Memoir of Deafness in 1990, indulged his fascination with trains by writing Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America in 1994, and realized a childhood dream to learn to fly in Flight of the Gin Fizz, scheduled to be published in September. Before writing this latest book, Kisor, who learned to fly in 1994, re-enacted the first transcontinental flight by a hearing-impaired pilot in 1911, landing as close as possible to the original 74 landing sites. It is a book of "rediscovery, of self and country," he said.
Today Kisor looks forward to uncovering the new voices he has yet to hear and share with his readers. "There's always an exciting new book, a provocative new author to discover," he observed. What are his future plans? "To write one more book before chucking it all in. About what, I have no idea," he quipped. "If people get pushy about it, I tell them I plan to go around the world in a one-man submarine."
-- Suzanne Zack