A Man, And 'Do, For All Seasons
The cowboy whines out a country melody on his harmonica, two guns set in the holsters slung low over his hips. He is weather-beaten, not at all intimidated by the three men ready to draw their revolvers.
“Dude, this is totally what we have to go for tomorrow morning!” Aaron C.M. Barth says, gesturing towards the 1960s western playing on his laptop. He and two friends are preparing to film a western short for Visual and Envirnmental Studies 155r, “Directing Actors for the Camera” in Middlesex, Mass., early Monday morning, with Barth in the cowboy role. Like his on-screen counterpart, Barth has the holsters, (toy) guns, harmonica and requisite hat. Except he’s in the Kirkland House library and wearing a tuxedo.
No one studying nearby seems fazed by their assistant librarian’s apparel. After all, the residents of Kirkland have lived through his famous “facial phases” for the past three years. During his time at Harvard, Barth has had approximately fifteen hair and facial hair styles, ranging from a mullet-and-moustache combo to a lateral crown-like mohawk to a curly moustache he called the “Captain Morgan” look.
“People were either frightened to death or they thought it was funny,” says Barth of his famous mohawk, rubbing the brown fuzz on his head—the result of a recent experience with a Bic.
Though he may change his hair every couple weeks, Barth’s true passions have been steadfast since childhood: playing baseball, making people laugh and Christianity.
The son of two Protestant missionaries, Barth grew up in France, Jordan, Israel, Canada and five cities in the United States (currently Fairfax, Va., is home). Though he’s enjoyed each, the “beautiful, hospitable people of Jordan” left the biggest impression on Barth, so much so that he’s applied for a Rockefeller fellowship to work in a Jordan orphanage next year.
A devout Christian and a member of Christian Impact and the Harvard Multi-Faith Council, Barth credits the diversity of people at Harvard for challenging and strengthening his beliefs.
“You get here and everybody’s really smart and believes things strongly. You can’t think that everything you’ve always believed is right.”
He leans forward, first button of his tuxedo shirt unbuttoned, cowboy hat on the desk next to him.
“It’s a hard exercise to really think critically about your beliefs…people are scared to do it,” he says. “We challenge ourselves intellectually and physically, but people leave the spiritual side out because there’s no deadline.”
Fingering the cross made of nails hanging around his neck, Barth reflects on the true meaning of “veritas.”
“Truth is truth. God is truth. Christians don’t necessarily have the right view but there is truth in God and His purpose for us,” he says.
Barth finds some of this purpose in baseball. A four-year member of Harvard’s JV baseball team, Barth has spent his college summers, traveling Nicaragua, Mexico, and around the United States as part of the “Athletes in Action” Christian missionary program, playing baseball and sharing his faith with fellow athletes.
His mother says Barth was always energetic and outgoing as a child, ready to start a pick-up soccer game in Jordan or film mockumentaries of 8th-grade health videos.
“He was always a pied piper. All the other kids followed him wherever he went. He doesn’t try but people love to follow him,” says Debbi E. Barth of her son.
Two weeks ago, Barth’s family held their annual Thanksgiving football game with neighbors, family and friends, with Barth’s father as one of the team captains. When it came time to pick teams, Barth told his dad to choose a small, underdog 14 year-old kid over the athletes and college students.
“That’s really who Aaron is. He’s competitive but his way is to look out for the whole herd,” says Debbi Barth.
On the top of the list of people to look after are his two younger sisters. Last June, he created an imitation “Masterpiece Theater” biography of his 18 year-old sister Jessica for her high school graduation.
Dressed up like a Scottish country gentleman with sideburns, tweed hat and walking stick, Barth sat at a table with 10 empty cups of tea and narrated the story of his sister’s life in full Scottish accent.
With his next film appearance only hours away, Barth sets his bare feet on the library attendant desk. “Relationships are so important to me,” he says. “The thing I care about is me and roommates going crazy. They’re a huge force in my life.”
“He knows everyone. He probably can name 85 percent of the people in our class just by face,” says roommate Patrick T. Salyer ’04. “He’s the glue that holds people together.”