PERSONAL BACKGROUND
The third of four siblings, John Harch was born in Orange, California at a time when orange groves existed in almost every direction. His father, a machinist, died when John was eight, leaving his mother, a registered nurse, to raise the family alone.
At age twelve, John took an unplanned 20-foot plummet out of a tree and nearly bled to death from a ruptured spleen, getting saved at the last minute by a general surgeon friend of the family. John worked a variety of jobs starting around that age: paper boy, metal shop worker, dishwasher, foundry grunt, and liquor store clerk. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois as an undergraduate. Then, longing for sunny southern California, he returned for medical school at UCLA. A short trip across town landed him at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center for training in general surgery, which is the subject of his memoir, Red Blanket.
John’s oldest brother, Joe, is an investment banker. His second brother, Paul, is a well-known doctor specializing in hyperbaric oxygen therapy. His sister, Ann, is a rocket scientist who has helped guide numerous space probes into and beyond our solar system.
Dr. Harch spent 25 years in private practice, offering services in general surgery, trauma, critical care, cancer surgery, and endoscopy. In retirement, John chairs the Tobacco Education Council for Siskiyou County and is a member and former chairman of the Ethics Committee at his local hospital. He is president of the Mount Shasta Trail Association and directs its trail crew. He gives medical lectures to nursing students at College of the Siskiyous, and participates in a mentoring program for kids. He enjoys mountain biking, skiing, road biking and hiking, and creates something unusual that he calls “nail art.”
John published Red Blanket in 2020, and is available for interviews about the memoir as well as pressing topics related to the American medical system.
John (right) climbing trees as a kid
Dora, former nurse and mother of John Harch
Harch siblings (from left to right): John, Paul, Ann, and Joe
Education & Career
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. BA in biology, 1978
UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. M.D, 1982
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, General Surgery Residency, 1982-1987
Board Certified in General Surgery, 1988
Board Certified in Surgical Critical Care, 1991
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Private practice in general, vascular, and trauma surgery, endoscopy and critical care from 1987-2012
Retired July 1, 2012
LA County - USC Medical Center
John Harch in his fourth year of residency at USC
Actual patient arrives with his assailant’s weapon stuck in his belly (note the 007 knife handle)
Lori and John
Volunteer Work
CURRENT POSITIONS
Member (1992-present) and chairman (2008-2019) of the Ethics Committee for Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta
Chairman, Tobacco Education Council of Siskiyou County
Founding and current member of Project Prepare, which provides counseling for end-of-life decision making
Board member and current president, Mt. Shasta Trail Association
Director of the trail crew for Mt. Shasta Trail Association
Member, Mt. Shasta Mentor Program
John (left) with the Mount Shasta Trail Association crew