TOM HARTE TO RETIRE FROM TEACHING AFTER 34 YEARS

Southeast Missouri State University speech professor Tom Harte has plenty on his plate as he readies to retire this spring.

Among other things, he plans to keep cooking and writing "A Harte Appetite," his cooking column that appears every other Wednesday in the Southeast Missourian. An enthusiastic traveler, he and his wife, Jane, intend to take plenty of trips. Harte's wife is a travel agent.

The Hartes plan to take a Mediterranean cruise this year.

Harte has been around the university for four decades, first as a student and then for the past 34 years as a faculty member.

Harte, who chairs the speech communication and theatre department, plans to retire at the end of this spring semester. But he won't quit teaching entirely. He plans to teach part time next school year.

"I really dread having to clean this stuff out," Harte said as he sat behind his desk in his Grauel Building office, crowded with books, photographs and other mementos of his career at Southeast and his travels.

Harte graduated from Southeast in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in speech education. He taught a year at the high school level before returning to the campus in 1966 to teach speech.

He later obtained his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois.

"Back then, a Ph.D. wasn't the requirement that it is now," he recalled. Faculty members often began teaching with undergraduate degrees and then obtained graduate degrees at a later date.

The Grauel Language Arts Building was new when Harte began teaching there. "The building and I have had a similar history. The building is falling apart and so am I," he said with a laugh.

Initially, faculty offices in Grauel were little more than partitioned spaces. "I just stayed by the window. Sooner or later, they built the walls around me," he said.

When Harte was a student at Southeast, the student body numbered about 4,000. Today, it is about double that number.

Harte remembers when the campus centered around Academic Hall and students paid $75 a semester to attend Southeast.

A college debater, Harte later served as an assistant debate coach and then as director of the debate program for a number of years. In the late 1970s, he served as president of Pi Kappa Delta, the national debate honor society.

Harte has a genuine appreciation for college students. "We have students who are good kids," he said. "I do enjoy being around them."

Harte has attended many campus lectures during his career at Southeast. "It's always interesting to me to hear a speech. C-SPAN is one of my favorite channels," he said.

Harte team taught a course on the modern presidency. Last fall, he and colleagues taught the course entirely on-line on the Internet.

Computers have made dramatic changes in education, Harte said. He remembers typing his dissertation on a typewriter, a far cry from today's computers.

While not a computer expert, Harte is proud of his ability to adapt to new technology.

He co-hosts KRCU's "Going Public" radio show, a public affairs program on Southeast's Public Radio affiliate station.

But he said his cooking column currently gives him the most satisfaction. He has been writing the newspaper column for three years.

"I have always loved to eat," said Harte, who views cooking as a means to an end.

His love of cooking began in graduate school when be baked batches of Christmas cookies.

He quickly became hooked on cooking. "It's relaxing," he said.

The Hartes and another couple founded My Daddy's Cheesecake in 1987 using Harte's own recipes for cheesecakes. The store's symbol features a caricature of Harte's mustached face.

One of his favorite creations was a Turtle cheesecake, featuring pecans, caramel and gourmet chocolate.

They began the business in the Hartes' kitchen and opened a Main Street store in 1992.

Unwilling to devote full time to the enterprise, they sold the booming business in 1996.

"I didn't want to give up teaching," said Harte.

As he has grown older, Harte has tried to keep his weight down. But he is fond of desserts. "I always have room for dessert. That has always been my passion."

Harte has a voluminous collection of recipe clippings, cookbooks and culinary magazines.

Harte's passion for food isn't limited to the exotic. He loves White Castle burgers and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Growing up, his father would bring home a bag of White Castle burgers after finishing his nightshift job as a machinist.

"We are a White Castle family," said Harte.

The food-loving Harte knows the location of every Krispy Kreme outlet in the St. Louis area. "I have walked out of a Krispy Kreme when the hot light wasn't on."

Like cooking, traveling has become a favorite hobby of Harte.

He credits his wife's traveling expertise in helping him tackle trips. "My wife loves to look at maps," he said.

It doesn't hurt that Jane Harte also speaks French and Spanish.

The Hartes have traveled in Europe. They have visited ancient pyramids in Mexico and Guatemala. They once spent a night in the jungle just so they could watch the sunrise atop a pyramid.

"We just love to travel. We love to see other places and visit other cultures," said Harte. For the Hartes, a good trip is better than a new car.

Said Harte, "We plan to stay in Cape Girardeau, but be gone a lot."