L. John Harris
Artist, Writer, Flâneur
“Whatever I make—with words or with line and color— I am telling a story. And I’m always a character in my stories because I only know myself through my stories. I find myself in everything I make.”
- L. John Harris
Wearing his ceremonial garlic turban and seated in front of his collection of garlicianna in the late ‘70s
A native of Los Angeles, California, L. John Harris studied art at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965-1969. Through the 1970’s, while working a variety of part-time jobs in some of Berkeley’s notorious food businesses--including the Cheese Board, Chez Panisse and The Swallow café--he wrote articles for the Los Angeles Free Press, co-published how-to books with Panjandrum Press in San Francisco, and wrote The Book of Garlic (1974). As a garlic activist, his Lovers of the Stinking Rose club and its Garlic Times newsletter inspired garlic festivals and garlic theme restaurants from California to New York. His second book, The Official Garlic Lovers Handbook, was published in 1986.
The food books published at Aris Books in the 1980s
In 1981, Harris founded Aris Books, a specialty cookbook publisher, and in 1988 launched his Foodoodle byline in several Bay Area magazines. In the 1990’s, Harris shifted his focus to documentary filmmaking. He wrote and co-produced Divine Food: 100 Years in the Kosher Delicatessen Trade and wrote and co-directed the Emmy-nominated PBS special Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar.
A life long classical guitar aficionado, Harris’ popular Guitarrada programs at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the 2000s featured guitars from his collection played by world-class guitarists. The Harris Guitar Collection was donated in 2019 by Harris to SFCM, where he now serves as curator of the collection.
Harris' most recent book, Café French: A Flâneur's Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Café won the 2019 Paris Book Festival award in the travel book category. The book features dozens of Harris’ pen and ink drawings. His next book will focus on the history of Berkeley's contribution to the California cuisine food revolution of the 1970s and ‘80s.
Harris lives in Berkeley, California in a 100-year-old Bernard Maybeck-designed Italian-style residence (Villa Maybeck) that serves as a venue for guitar performances, lectures, poetry readings and private events.