by Charly Mann

Harold McCurdy was a truly extraordinary man, A UNC Kenan Professor of Psychology who was probably Chapel Hill's most knowledgeable resident and the epitome of what is referred to as a polymath. He was a man who excelled in many things and had an almost limitless capacity to learn and become accomplished in any subject that interested him. He came to UNC in 1949, the same year as my father, William Robert Mann, and they quickly became good friends. I learned much about McCurdy from my Dad.

Harold McCurdy - UNC Psychology Professor and Polymath of Chapel Hill

A subject that McCurdy was keenly interested in was what factors most contributed to someone becoming a genius. After considerable study of the lives of twenty geniuses McCurdy wrote The Childhood Pattern of Genius. His first conclusion was that genius was most common among children who spend the majority of their time with adults and little time with children near their ages unless they were siblings. His research actually showed that preteen children who are sent to school and must do their socializing with their peers are significantly impeded in their intellectual and character development. Boys he found are particularly impaired if they begin interacting with people their age before 14. His second discovery was that highly intelligent and socially mature children are usually immersed in the interests of adults around them, and are allowed the time and loving support to naturally master these subjects. Children who grow up in this kind of environment develop a high degree of intellectual and artistic creativity. Finally he found that most geniuses were given a high degree of family responsibility from a young age that builds self-respect and confidence. This often meant making things that could be useful or even sold, and at a minimum taking a major role in maintaing their home. What this all means is that home schooling is far better than public schools for primary education. Children, McCurdy found, are just not socially or academically mature enough for institutional education until they are teenagers. Children in fact are negatively socialized by having to spend their early youth interacting with other children, and become less creative and much more likely to have mental and emotional problems throughout the rest of their lives.

McCurdy was also an expert on William Shakespeare and wrote a book on his personality. He also did extensive writing and research on D.H. Lawrence and Emily and Charlotte Bronte.

McCurdy was an outstanding poet and several volumes of his poetry were published. Harold McCurdy died in Chapel Hill in November of 1999. The following poem by McCurdy showcases his genius and his love of God.

Meteor

When softly and slowly fell the other night
That meteor flaring through my screen of trees,
Maybe I only was privy to the sight.

Eastward it fell of great Orion's knees
And his dog Sirius; southward of Jupiter;
And it was very bright, brighter than these.

If others glimpsed it (as, say, Lucifer,
Or some dull chunk of matter being consumed),
Let their view of it be as they prefer.

To me it was a miracle, subsumed
Within the ancient mystery and profound
From which the whole starred universe once bloomed.

For look! I was alone on private ground
Awed by the starry heavens at Christmas Eve,
Yet sorrowful, and in self-pity drowned,

Pleading, as one who clamors to believe,
"Oh God, whom none can see and live, do you
Care in the least for us? Did you conceive

Us and this world and come incarnate too
To lodge here? "Me, Lord, have you loved? Me, heard?"
--And then, abruptly, silently, fell and grew

That flare of light, that bright, that lordly word