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25 in 25: John Harrigan
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  He's a former publisher, a reporter, a storyteller, a lover of the outdoors and a loyal fan of New Hampshire’s North Country, and throughout his career John Harrigan's been able to meld all those facets of his life together. His column “Woods, Water and Wildlife” has been a fixture in the Union Leader for the last 32 years celebrating the beauty of New Hampshire’s outdoors; while his other column “North Country Notebook” is now run in twelve weekly newspapers. He’s the former owner and publisher of three newspapers in Northern New Hampshire and in 1997, was declared First Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for getting his paper out the night of the Colebrook shootings, in which his editor, his longtime companion and two police friends were killed. All throughout his career Harrigan has celebrated his North Country while seeing it change before his eyes. For our next installment of our 25 in 25 series, we look at how the North Country has changed and how it's stayed the same over the last quarter century with Colebrook reporter and raconteur John Harrigan. Guest
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Having grown up in Groveton during the 1950s-60s, I thought John Harrigan's remarks this morning were remarkable for the little that was said. It's fortunate for Mr. Harrigan that as a college dropout and ex-lumberjack without typing skills he had the wherewithal to purchase the Democrat when he did, and having sold out is now able to survive on his North Country estate (with a 35-mile view and no neighbors!) without visible means of support beyond his syndicated column. A great many other Coos County residents are not as fortunate, perhaps because of the prejudices of community leaders like Mr. Harrigan ("traffic is bad," "population density is bad"), who seemingly would prefer to see the land remain a habitat and refuge for Luddites like himself. Ignoring the virtual extinction of its manufacturing base since WW2, Mr. Harrigan's example of change in the culture of the North Country over the decades was a discourse on the diminishment in the number of camps while "megahomes" were increasing! Certainly another commentator might have have riffed eloquently on the demise of the pulp and paper industry in NH, which has seen towns like Berlin and Groveton (which once boasted an opera house) dwindle to the pathetic point where a federal prison looks like a growth industry.
And about those hike-in camps that Mr. Harrigan so admires: given the recreational outlets available in areas of New England where it is still possible to earn a living, the thought of mom and dad and the kids spending relaxing weekends at a tiny hike-in camp in the woods -- fighting clouds of mosquitos and blackflies, cantankerous Coleman lanterns, and packing out their garbage -- is not one that most people find attractive. One has to wonder how much longer Mr. Harrigan will find the pleasures of packing in and out of his own camp -- on foot he says -- possible, given the inevitable infirmities of old age.