|
 In
Fall 2003, I begin teaching new media journalism and assorted writing
and literature courses as an associate professor of English at Seton
Hill University.
In 2001 I earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University
of Toronto, and in March of 2003 my dissertation was published as Technology
in American Drama 1920-1950: Soul and Society in the Age of the Machine.
I enjoy challenging my students to write, revise, and revise again
(and this website includes a large collection
of writing handouts). According to one former student, "Dr.
Jerz will make you a better writer than you think you can be."
My scholarly interests include new media genres such as weblogs
and interactive fiction, as well as literature
and drama.
Since 1994, I've been married to the former Leigh Anne Gigliotti.
She is working on a Ph.D. in Victorian literature from the University
of
Toronto. We have two children: Peter, born in 1998; and Carolyn, born
in 2002. We are a home-schooling family (though both kids went to
preschool).
Family Album
Rainbow Hector Fan Page
 |
For reasons that still elude me, I started the Rainbow
Hector Fan Page as a tribute to the favorite toy of my son Peter
(born in 1998). By the time he turned four, he had moved on somewhat
to race cars and X-wing fighters. Thankfully his sister Carolyn
(born in 2002) is now a Rainbow Hector fan. |
Jerz Family Name
(A narrative essay on what "Jerz" means.)
"I still had a few minutes while the sausage cooked, so I asked,
"What does my name mean?" The sausage lady averted her eyes and
found something to do underneath the counter. When she emerged
again, her shoulders were shaking, and she was trying to keep a straight
face. I rolled my eyes. Oh no, not again..."
Jerz Family Shoe Shop (Chicago)
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My
great-grandfather John Jerz lived in the back room of this
tiny neighborhood shoe shop, in a Polish neighborhood in
Chicago's West Side.
My grandfather Joseph J. Jerz was a die-cutter in the
auto industry. My father George J. Jerz was born in 1933.
He guesses that this photo dates from 1920. |
On the walls of the
Jerz shoe store are mostly posters for "O'Sullivan Heels,"
and "Tite-Edge Rubber Heels." In those days, a shoe
was so well-made that when the heels wore out, you would take
it to a neighborhood shoe shop such as this one, in order to get
a new heel nailed onto the leather sole.
I visited this house with my father
in 1991. The Polish families had long since moved out, and the
neighborhood was mostly Hispanic. The small shop window was still
there, but the store had been converted into a living room.
The boy in the photo is Walter
Jerz, who my father says was the fifth-ranked middle-weight
boxer in the 1930s (and had the same boxing manager as Joe
Louis). Walter was one of my grandfather's six siblings:
after Joseph there were Clara, Walter, Elizabeth, Florence, Raymond,
and Ted.
Ted, the youngest, died in the
summer of 1999. He was not much older than my father, and
the two had recently reconnected. My father found this photo
while going through his Uncle Ted's personal effects.
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19 Oct 1999 -- first posted
31 May 2002 -- Microsoft link added
24 Sep 2002 -- design modified
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I
don't own any gaming consoles, but one evening a student
brought his Wii to class and during the break, I got 9 pins on
my first bowl, and picked
up
the spare
on my second.
