The late Dr. Horace Perry, “H.P.,” Jones started the annual Ides of March poetry reading at the University of Louisiana at Monroe in the mid-1990s. Jones created the event to encourage others to join him in celebrating togetherness, while reading poetry aloud under what has been appropriately named Jones’s sacred tree, located on the north side of Stubbs Hall, near the ULM Student Center.
The 2015 reading will be the second without Jones, who died in 2013. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to attend the event, which will be held at 11 a.m., on Tuesday, March 17, under the sacred tree.
The event is facilitated by the history honor society, Phi Alpha Theta, and Dr. Mary Adams, associate professor of English.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a poem to read.
The Ides of March is reserved for the 15th day of March, and is held in memoriam of the day Julius Caesar died.
After the conclusion of each reading, the audience maintains the Roman custom of giving the reader five claps.
Dr. Mary Adams, associate professor of English, said Dr. Jones made the ULM campus his home for many years. "He wanted everyone to feel at home, and to come together and share ideas. The Ides of March poetry reading was just one way of doing that."
About H.P Jones:
Horace Perry Jones, Ph.D., was named after the famous Roman Poet Laureate Horace who coined the phrase, carpe diem or “seize the day.”
Jones died in his home at the age of 83, on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. He retired from ULM after nearly 50 years of service, on May 19, 2012.
A native of High Point, N.C., Jones served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Following his stint with the Marines, Jones climbed on his bicycle and started his famous, 18-month trip around the world in 1961. Soon after that, he ditched his bike and began to hitchhike. He traveled through 22 countries and four continents.
After graduating from Mississippi College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and Physical Education in 1957, Jones went to Boone, N.C., to teach at Appalachian High School and complete graduate work at Appalachian State Teachers College (ASTC).
After graduating from ASTC in 1958 with an M.A. in social studies, Jones returned to Mississippi and served for two years as history teacher and coach at Leland High School before accepting a position as athletic director at the American School in London, England.
In 1972, during the first year such an honor was bestowed by ULM and the alumni association, Jones was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
In 1978, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Louisiana Society, named Jones the Most Outstanding College History Teacher in Louisiana.
Jones married Lucia Demma and together, they had two daughters, Beth and Kathy.
For more information, contact the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences at 318-342-1235.
