Published March 12, 2015
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.
Illustration by Srdjan Marjanovic
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.
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.
