Philanthropist helped create city's 'footprint'
Kathy Shayna Shocket
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 15, 2006 12:00 AM
Publishing, philanthropy and even Big Apple politics ruled Joel Harnett's life of 80 years.
The one-time New York City mayoral candidate, who lost to Ed Koch in a 1977 primary, was better known in the Valley as founder of Phoenix Home & Garden magazine. He was also a 20-year executive of Look magazine.
The Paradise Valley resident lost his battle with prostate cancer at home Friday.
He and his wife, Lila, endowed the modern art gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum and a theater in the Heard Museum, where Joel was most recently a board member. The couple also have a museum named after them at Harnett's alma matter, the University of Richmond in Virginia.
"He was truly someone who was dedicated to the community and building a better society for all of us," said James Ballinger, director of the Phoenix Art Museum. "He used the Home & Garden magazine to help cultural organizations in the Valley."
The couple began commuting from New York City to the Valley in the 1970s to manage their media enterprises, which included Phoenix radio station KMEO, which he co-founded in 1966. Harnett founded Phoenix Home & Garden in 1980 with his wife. In 1989, they became permanent Valley residents.
"Phoenix Home & Garden was upscale and gave Phoenix a sophistication it didn't have before we entered the market," said Lila, his wife of 55 years.
Peggy Rubach, executive director of the Valley Citizens League, said anything Harnett touched was done well. The League named him its first chairman emeritus in 2005.
"By founding the Home & Garden magazine he helped set a standard for excellence. Joel helped create a footprint of what the Valley could be, and he had large feet," Rubach said. "He has left an indelible mark on all the groups he was involved in. Certainly Valley Citizens League was much enriched by his dedication and support."
The league honored Harnett for both his local and national contributions, many of which were groundbreaking.
Lila said that as an executive at Look, her husband created demographic magazine advertising. He also grabbed headlines in New York City in 1977 when he sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to force the public disclosure of the city's fiscal problems. That same year he ran in the Democratic mayoral primary but lost to Ed Koch.
"He was one of the best-read, most-informed people I've ever known," Ballinger said.
Besides magazine publishing, Harnett wrote poetry and political books. New Day Rising, published by the Heard Museum, deals with the exploitation of Native Americans.
"He was a poet and author, and the last two years was finishing his book The Devil's Own Politics,about the evangelical takeover of our political system, while he was undergoing tremendously debilitating chemotherapy," Lila said.
She added that he died surrounded by his books and his art and the beauty of the Valley.
"His body wasn't working, but his brain was. It was what he wanted," she said.
Memorial services are pending. Donations can be made in Harnett's name to the Phoenix Art or Heard museums. |
