Larry Lee Barker, Ph.D., a true renaissance man with talents and gifts spanning many unique disciplines, died on June 18, 2016 at his home in Kingston, OK after battling cancer for two years. He was 74.

Born in Ohio, Larry was an internationally published author, consultant, musician and educator. Larry received his Ph.D. in organizational communication from Ohio University in 1965 and became the youngest person awarded the distinction of full professor in the field of Communication. He taught at Purdue, Florida State and Auburn Universities before moving into full time consulting in 1995. A leader in many professional associations, Larry was past president of the International Listening Association. He held membership in the American Psychological Association and the American Society for Training and Development. He also served as consulting editor and editor consultant for publishers such as: Prentice-Hall, Houghton-Mifflin Company, Allyn and Bacon, Addison-Wesley, W.C. Brown, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Internationally recognized as an authority on communication, listening and nonverbal communication, Larry won numerous research and outstanding teaching awards.  Larry wrote over 40 books and 100+ articles in both academic and popular publications. Achieving distinction with numerous publications, he wrote the first research-based book on listening in 1971. His Communication book is in its 8th edition. His co-authored book Groups in Process (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000) is now in it's 7th edition. His co-authored book, Listen Up! was published in seven languages. He co-authored the Listener Preference Profile, Watson-Barker Listening Test, and Advocacy-Inquiry Skills Indicator.  A collaborator by nature, many of his books and articles are co-authored with leaders of distinction, previous graduate students and business colleagues such as: Bob Kibler, Gordon Wiseman, Phil Emmert, Charles Roberts, Manny Steil, Renee Edwards, Janice Sargeant, Don Cegala, Debbie Roach, Michelle Johnston, Loretta Malandro, Jeanine McGlade, Lisa Moore, Becky Ripley and Kittie Watson.  Larry's legacy includes dozens of graduate students who have gone on to build significant accomplishments of their own.

An accomplished musician, Larry began his lifelong love of music with his first piano lessons at age five. In high school, Larry worked at a radio station and served as a DJ. A percussionist at heart, he also played the guitar, mandolin, keyboards, etc. While teaching at Florida State University, he introduced a course on the Rhetoric of Rock and Roll and formed a traveling band known as "Larry and the Love Notes." While a professor at Auburn University, he organized and played in the band, Sandstone. When jamming with friends, he could easily sound like Buddy Holly and Elvis and actually performed as an Elvis Impersonator at an International Conference in Seattle, WA.

A serial entrepreneur, Larry opened Rainbow River Studios in Auburn, AL, in 1975. It included both retail and wholesale jewelry as well as arts and crafts. He studied and became an accomplished jewelry smith creating original rings, bracelets and necklaces in silver, copper and gold.

A sought after consultant and executive coach, Larry served as President of SPECTRA Incorporated from 1979 to 2000 and a senior consultant with Innolect Inc., from 2000 to 2016. As a consultant, Larry facilitated hundreds of sessions for teams ranging from line employees to top executives spanning healthcare, banking, oil and gas, utilities, pharmaceutical and government agencies such as U.S. Army and U.S. Air force. His clients have appreciated his ability to combine a sharp, focused facilitation style with a personal touch. His training and experience in creativity and innovation allowed him the option to help clients think "out of the box." His many honors include the Golden Quill of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators awarded for a corporate communication program he developed for a Fortune 500 company. An executive coach for high level executives, one of his achievements was being featured as an executive coach on ABC's 20/20.

Larry partnered with Kittie Watson to create Sound SPECTRA Music (SMM) which was incorporated in 1984. SMM is a music publisher affiliated with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). In addition to music publishing, SSM owned Rainbow River Studios and Rainbow River Digital Music.  Larry served as President of SSM and the Manager of Rainbow River Studios. Larry is a Grammy nominated, Billboard Top 10 songwriter/composer and voting member of NARAS in three categories: artist, songwriter/composer, and producer. SSM also is affiliated with the Harry Fox Agency. He won the Cigar Institute of America, First Place, Jingle Competition, 1985 and wrote songs with Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers, with Lionel Ritchie of the Commodores and "Big Bill" Morganfield, son of Muddy Waters. One of SSM's major properties is Bop! The Musical. Two SSM albums are available on itunes and Amazon, as well as approximately 20 other websites: "Bop! The Musical" and "Different Strokes."  One of his greatest pleasures was playing the drums with his son, Bobby.

In 1984 Larry co-founded the Institute for the Study of Intrapersonal Processes (ISIP) with Kittie Watson. He served as the Executive Director of this nonprofit publicly supported foundation. Representative ISIP Projects included:

• Sustainable Legacy Research – grant awarded to Innolect Inc. to design, administer and prepare a report to assess and make recommendations for increasing ROI for corporate social responsibility volunteer efforts with nonprofit partners.
• Bozeman Senior Center – grant awarded to form the "Last Best Geri-Actors" - - a seniors' theatre group performing readers' theatre and musical performances at senior care facilities in Montana.
• Friends for Alabama Children's Fund – raised funds to provide grants for low income children without health insurance or the benefits of social service programs. The grant was administered in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Child Welfare.
• Let's Keep the Music Playing – produced a record with the bass player for the Commodores, Ron LaPread, and designed/produced a poster signed by Auburn University Heisman Trophy winners to raise money to award grants to children who "fell between the cracks" – i.e., children who did not qualify for state or federal welfare programs, but needed food, clothing and medical care.
• It's Your Body: Check Yourself Out – grant awarded to record and disseminate an educational video to encourage self-examination for the early detection of breast cancer among young and minority women. The video used the Rap format and was set to an original song for the project.
• Bop! the Musical - partial grant to develop and produce this 50's musical including 18 original songs. The production, including scripts, music and advertising materials, is available to raise funds for selected nonprofit organizations and foundations, including ISIP.
• Native American Inter-tribe Communication – grant awarded to enhance communication among several Native American Tribes in Arizona. The grant led to a conference among tribes aimed at resolving long lived disputes and conflicts among the tribes.
• Listening Oral History Series - recording and dissemination of listening field oral history materials to support the International Listening Association. Among the experts interviewed for the series were Ralph Nichols and James Brown, two pioneers in Listening research and application.
• Ralph G. Nichols Listening Research Award – monetary award for the best research-based or theoretical paper presented during the International Listening Association Conference (1986-2002).
• James I. Brown Student Listening Research Award – monetary award for the best research-based or theoretical student paper presented during the International Listening Association Conference (1986 to 2002).
• Readings in Intrapersonal Communication Processes, Roberts, C. & Watson, K.W. – Grant awarded to write and produce the first comprehensive book of readings about theory and research in intrapersonal communication: Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch-Scarisbrick Publishers.

A lifelong student, Larry was committed to a spiritual practice that combined Eastern Philosophy with Christianity. He was particularly influenced by The Fourth Way, an approach to self-development described by George Gurdjieff and explored more fully by P.D. Ouspensky and Marice Nicole. Especially during the last ten years, Larry lead virtual reading groups for those interested in their own growth and development. Two devoted members were Faye Christensen and Catherine Weil. He lived by the premise:

"A man who wants to awaken must look for other people who also want to awake, and work together with them. The work of self-study can proceed only in properly organized groups. One man alone cannot see himself. But when a certain number of people unite together for this purpose they will even involuntarily help one another."— G. I. Gurdjieff

Following in the footsteps of his father, Milford Barker, Larry was an avid collector of antique cars, motorcycles, bicycles and antiques. One of his collections included the original Bat Cycle, a series of Studebakers ranging from a 1919 Big Six Touring to the Presidents series, Indian Twin Motorcycle, Harley Davidson Factory Racer Motorcycle and 1976 Avanti II.

Larry has had a variety of outside interests and excelled at whatever he put his mind to doing. He was a masseuse, a video producer, a skilled hypnotist and served as extras in two feature films: Norma Rae and Long Riders. Larry enjoyed being by water, especially the ocean, and was an avid fisherman, something he enjoyed doing with his two sons, including both tournament bass and bill fishing. He was on the professional bass fishing circuit for a couple of years and has written several books on fishing.

Larry also enjoyed playing tournament blackjack. He was the 2007 Player of the Year on the Tournament Blackjack Association's national tour. Traveling later in life, he was hired by several cruise lines as a mystery shopper and provided written assessments of their gaming operations. Since the late 1990s he cruised worldwide Courageous in life in and in death, Larry focused on the blessings he received in life. Not able to drive or read extensively with paralysis of the left side of his face for the last two years, he pushed himself to live life well. His wife, Tammie, devoted herself to providing him ways to relax on short cruises between treatments. Even during chemo, he continued to enjoy the laughter of children, listening to books on tape, playing his favorite music and having conversations with friends and Tammie.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Milford Barker and Ruth Barker. Larry is survived by his wife, Tammie Barker, his sons, Theodore Barker, Niceville, FL and Robert Barker, Tallahassee, FL and grandson, Ryan Barker of Niceville, FL. He is also survived by step-children Melanie Gann from Lavon, TX, Spencer Brown and Justin Brown from Kingston, OK, and 4 step-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the Institute of Intrapersonal Processes or the scholarship in the Department of Communication at Auburn University.

Note: This tribute was written by Kittie Watson to honor her mentor, friend, and business partner of over 40 years.