Associate Professor Publishes Van Morrison Book
"It was a little opportunistic," said Erik Hage, associate professor of journalism and communications at SUNY Cobleskill. "In that there was an opportunity to actually have a book contract and get to a new level with my writing. But, it was also because Van Morrison is such a paradoxical and interesting figure."
Realizing the idiosyncrasies of Van Morrison, Hage saw an opportunity to further his writing career. He recently finished work on his first book, The Words and Music of Van Morrison for Greenwood Publishing Group, which is set to be published in March 2009. While teaching full time and writing the book, Hage was able to pull his experience from the "organized chaos" of the process, and inject his classes with insightful first-hand knowledge of writing, research and critical thinking.
"It applies to everything ... It even figures into discussions of things like fair use and copyright in my Mass Media class, or the state or corporate radio," he said. "It dovetails perfectly with teaching."
With the Van Morrison book under his belt, Hage didn't hesitate to delve into another biography, this time of Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy for McFarland & Co, whose work includes the recent Academy Award winning movie "No Country for Old Men."
Likening it to being a magnet, Hage admits the book writing process isn't easy.
"You're ... picking up all these steel shavings of research and ideas you have to aggregate them into something cohesive and interesting," he said. "You really need long hours at a stretch to be able to conceptualize and do the kind of deep thinking needed for such an endeavor. I have kids and a life; it's not easy."
The well published music journalist credits his interest in writing to being an avid reader. As for getting into music journalism, "Popular music is arguably the most powerful mass medium out there. It has a huge influence on our culture, so in writing about music, you're writing about so much more."
The 101st Airborne veteran attended New York University before switching his focus to English, literature and communication at SUNY Binghamton where he also taught as a graduate assistant while earning his master's degree. Hage went on to teach as a full-time writing and communication instructor at Elmira College. He then worked in Manhattan as an editor and copy chief, and has continued to freelance as a journalist, writing features and music reviews, and contributing to several books. Hage writes a weekly column for Metroland, Albany's alternative newsweekly, and recently wrote a travel story for the Times Union. He joined SUNY Cobleskill in 2001 to teach journalism and communication. In addition to his teaching, Hage worked on developing curriculum for and creating the college's Bachelor of Science in Communications in Technology.
