Ronald E. "Ron" Glass (July 10, 1945 – November 25, 2016) appeared in two episodes of Good Times, first as Mr. Pearson, a school administrator, who's the principal of Michael's school in "Crosstown Buses Run All Day, Doodah, Doodah", then as Henry Anderson, a blind encyclopedia salesman in the episode titled "The Encyclopedia Hustle". Ron was best known for his roles as the witty Detective Ron Harris in the ABC-TV sitcom series Barney Miller (1975–1982), and as the spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book in the short-lived 2002 science fiction series Firefly and its sequel film Serenity.