Update on book

In the process of writing this book I have talked to numerous people that knew my father, coaches, teammates, friends and family.  I didn’t know my father as an athlete, I was born in May 1972 a couple of months before he competed at his second Olympic Games in Munich, Germany and when he retired for the sport he loved in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics, I was only four years old.  I grew up knowing, Harry Geris, my father and the coach not the athlete.  The process of writing his biography has opened a new door for me, my father wasn’t one to talk about his accolades he lived in the moment, so in talking to the people that knew him in his, “Glory Days” I have discovered a new chapter in my father’s life.  The experience has been exciting with every step!!  I will update my blog as I keep interviewing my father’s friends and colleagues.

Most recently I interviewed one of dad’s wrestling coaches at Joliet Junior College (JJC), Jerry Yost.  Jerry coached my father in 1969 after the previous wrestling coach Henry Pillard vacated the position for an administrative job with Joliet Junior College.  During the years that my dad was attending JJC, Jerry was also the college’s football coach.  In our interview Jerry said, “After watching your father wrestle throughout the year I started “kicking myself”.  I would have made him a Defensive End, he had size and athleticism. He would have easily made a four year college’s football program with a little work”.

Hopefully, I will be speaking with Dad’s first wrestling coach at Joliet Junior College this week.  I have spoken to Coach Pillard over the past few months and have found him to be the “go to guy” for information on my father’s collegiate wrestling career.  He was a coach that believed in my father and gave him a chance!  I would go as far as to say that he is responsible for a lot of Harry Geris’ success.  I look forward to getting back to you about our talk.  Stay tuned!