{"id":2007,"date":"2020-12-15T20:19:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T20:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2020-12-21T19:51:55","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:51:55","slug":"inspired-driven-thankful-alumnus-finds-success-helps-others-achieve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=2007","title":{"rendered":"Inspired, driven, thankful: Alumnus finds success, helps others achieve"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"james
James and Joan Hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Rebecca Renshaw<\/p>\n

What can someone do with a degree in English literature? Plenty, and SIU alumnus Jim Hood is the perfect example.<\/p>\n

Hood\u2019s degree propelled him into a successful career in the news and information industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you study and research literature, you learn how to condense a whole lot of information down to the essence,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s impossible to go wrong studying English literature. If you get a real base studying and researching literature, you can go out and do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hood \u201969 and his wife recently established the James R. and Joan Lisante Hood Fund for New Media Technology with a $30,000 gift. In 2020, the James R. and Joan Lisante Hood Endowed Scholarship for Creative Nonfiction will be created with an additional $40,000 contribution.<\/p>\n

SIU offers inspiration, experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Gardner was Hood\u2019s favorite professor. Gardner had built a reputation as a rebel in the field of medieval studies, specifically in the study of Geoffrey Chaucer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Gardner reading \u2018Canterbury Tales\u2019 to my class. He would read it line by line and explain it in middle English,\u201d Hood said. \u201cIt was as much anthropology as English literature. Gardner transformed it from a study of old bones into a study of beautiful poetry and fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a student at SIU, Hood gravitated toward local news and spent most of his time as a radio reporter and freelance correspondent covering the social upheavals of the 1960s. He served as the news director of WSIU radio, covering civil rights and anti-Vietnam War activities. Hood also worked at WINI in Murphysboro and WJPF in Herrin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember finishing up the 2 p.m. news at WJPF when the phone rang,\u201d he said. \u201cA guy asked if I was the one who just delivered the news, and when I said that I had, he offered me a job at a radio station in Phoenix. After graduation, I packed my bags and went to Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hood also regularly sat in on classes taught by Buckminster Fuller. He credits Fuller, in part, for his entrepreneurial spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never forgot what I learned at SIU,\u201d he said. \u201cFuller taught me about design, how to look at problems, and then how to think outside the box to solve those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridging the gap<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hood worked for 14 years as an editor and executive for Associated Press outlets across the country. His knack for solving problems coupled with his technical skills pushed him to start several startup companies, such as Zap News and Consumer Affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the guy you can blame for consumers who won\u2019t buy anything until they read the reviews,\u201d Hood said.<\/p>\n

Hood, now semi-retired, lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and runs Fairfax News.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, it\u2019s my personal hobby. We cover Washington, D.C., and do stories on cops and robbers \u2013 that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

By giving to SIU\u2019s creative writing program, he hopes to help bridge the gap between creative writing and technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes people with a technical bent don\u2019t know how to express themselves, and literary types are hopeless when it comes to technical stuff,\u201d Hood said. \u201cIt\u2019s my hope that by implementing new media projects using technology, it will help one or two starving English majors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hood credits SIU with introducing him to some of the brightest people he ever met.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always felt obligated to give back to SIU. It helps diverse students and attracts students from other countries. It also helps to lift up students from inner cities like East St. Louis and Chicago,\u201d he said. \u201cI think big universities like SIU need the benefits of philanthropy much more than private institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engage with us on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Renshaw What can someone do with a degree in English literature? Plenty, and SIU alumnus Jim Hood is the perfect example. Hood\u2019s degree propelled him into a successful career in the news and information industry. \u201cWhen you study and research literature, you learn how to condense a whole lot of information down to … Continue reading Inspired, driven, thankful: Alumnus finds success, helps others achieve<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-higher-education","category-illinois-higher-education","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2013,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions\/2013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}