Tuesday, May 14, 2019
I am a member of the class of 1967 because I spent my freshman and sophomore years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts before transferring to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. My dormitories at Holy Cross were Wheeler Hall for freshman year & Carlin Hall for sophomore year.
Unfortunately I never got to know Harry during my years on campus. However I did get to know him at class reunions, especially at our 50th class reunion in 2017.
What a treasure he was and remains in our memories of him! While he appeared to be physically frail, both his personality and his spirit were intensely robust.
He was immensely popular among his loving classmates. I am not one bit surprised that he was in love with music and that music claimed him as one of her special children.
I am a high school classmate of Don McLean.
While he is justifiably renowned for his classic, “American Pie” ( also known as,
“ The day the music died”), the touching song that comes to mind when thinking of Harry is,
“ starry starry night” which is a tribute to Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch impressionist painter. In this song Don Mclean sings of Vincent‘s exquisitely beautiful soul. Those lyrics capture some of my feelings about our beloved classmate, Harry.
Deeply loved, sorely missed.
Jack McGovern
973-307-5437
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
