Born: October 23, 1918
Died: July 14, 2011
Ohio connection: Resident
Columbus
Author, writer, photographer, and illustrator James P. Barry was born in Alton, Illinois. At the age of eight, he took his first ride on a Great Lakes freighter and, soon after, learned to sail a Mackinaw boat. He graduated from University High School in Normal, Illinois, and attended The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, receiving a B.A. degree in 1940. While still at Ohio State he published his first article in Yachting magazine. From the time he was in high school, Barry had a deep love of writing with historical and regional topics being his major interest.
During his service in the U. S. Army from 1940 until 1966, Barry wrote technical military publications. After his retirement from the military, Barry joined the staff of Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1967 as an administrator. From 1971 until 1988, Barry was the director of the Ohioana Library Association and also served as editor of its publication, the Ohioana Quarterly.
Barry authored 23 books including Georgian Bay: The Sixth Great Lake (1968); The Fate of the Lakes: A Portrait of the Great Lakes (1972); Wrecks and Rescues of the Great Lakes: A Photographic History (1981); Old Forts of the Great Lakes: Sentinels in the Wilderness (1994) and Hackercraft (2002). He also wrote a number of books for young adults, including The Battle of Lake Erie, September, 1813 (1970); Bloody Kansas, 1854-65 (1972); The Louisiana Purchase, April 30, 1803 (1973); Henry Ford and Mass Production (1973) and The Berlin Olympics, 1936 (1975).
James Potvin Barry died July 14, 2011. He was 92 years old.
Books
Awards/Honors
Award from American Society for State and Local History, 1974, for Ships of the Great Lakes: 300 Years of Navigation; award from Society of Midland Authors, 1982 for Wrecks and Rescues of the Great Lakes: A Photographic History. In 1979-2010 the Ohioana Library Association established the James P. Barry Award for Editorial Excellence.