John L. Hart graduated with a psychology bachelor of arts degree from Linfield in 1968, a Masters of Social Work from Portland State University in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Southern California.
After Linfield -- but before PSU and USC -- his experience
serving in 1969-1970 as a psychology specialist for the U.S. Army in the
Vietnam War are the foundation of There
Will Be Killing: A Novel of War and Murder. He co-wrote the novel, a trade
paperback also available as an e-book, with writer Olivia Rupprecht.
There Will be Killing tells of child psychiatrist “Izzy” Moskowitz, “fresh out of his (medical school) residency,” drafted in 1969 to serve in the Vietnam War. The psychiatrist is assigned to an Army psychiatric unit in Nha Trang, Vietnam where he becomes an “unwilling participant in a mission that would turn his world upside down and redefine the nature of war to him,” according to the book’s promotional material.
In addition to Hart’s writing, the book includes Chinese
Positive reviews for the book include from Tara Janzen, “New York Times bestselling author.” She said the book is a “riveting journey into the perils of war and the darkness of the human heart – stylish and provocative."
Good response has helped assure the book will have sequels. The second in the series will be published next year, Hart said.
There Will be Killing, a "Pick of the Day" on the website of e-book publisher Barnes & Noble, reached #5 nationally on the publisher's Nook e-book platform.
It’s Hart's second book. He wrote Becoming a Father: The Real Work of a Man's Soul, published in 1998.
Hart graduated from Linfield in the campus Oak Grove in McMinnville on Sunday, May 19, 1968. The next day he was drafted into the Army. After a year of military training he was serving in Vietnam.
Born and raised in Portland, he graduated from Washington High School for which he was an outstanding left-handed pitcher for Washington High Colonials baseball.
Hart was the winning pitcher in the Linfield Wildcats’ victorious baseball final game of the NAIA World Series in St. Joseph, Missouri in June 1966. It was Linfield's first national title in any sport.
In the fall of 1966, Hart injured his back in a catastrophic car accident just outside McMinnville. Following about two weeks of hospitalization, he continued to pitch for the Wildcats, but started focusing on a career in psychology after baseball and college concluded.
(Rest of the story: Against medical advice, he left the
hospital suddenly because his mother was in critical condition in a different hospital. Driving from Portland to see him in McMinnville, a driver in another car ran a red light and hit her vehicle.)
Hart has been a psychotherapist for more than 40 years. He had a psychotherapy practice in Los Angeles for 20 years. An internationally known teacher, he has been a consultant to the nation of Norway for its Fathering Project.
He splits his time between living on the Big Island of Hawaii and Canada’s Vancouver Island, where he is the executive director of Spirit Bear Art Farm and a University of Victoria adjunct associate professor.
To learn more about Hart and There Will be Killing, go to these links:
Contact Hart at drjlhart@mac.com
