
{"id":19557,"date":"2011-07-14T12:35:36","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T16:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=19557"},"modified":"2011-07-18T15:27:14","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T19:27:14","slug":"farewell-to-the-king-of-carrboro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/07\/14\/farewell-to-the-king-of-carrboro\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell to the King of Carrboro"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_19567\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19567\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/07\/14\/farewell-to-the-king-of-carrboro\/cci000011-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19567\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/CCI0000111.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"CCI000011\" width=\"200\" height=\"208\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/CCI0000111.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/CCI0000111-113x117.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/CCI0000111-108x113.jpg 108w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19567\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Harman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nThere are certain people in small towns who become recognizable to many, whose stories are retold among residents, who become a part of the landscape. They become local celebrities, fixtures of the town. Robert Harman was one such person. <\/p>\n<p>Harman, 73, was riding his bike in the westbound bicycle lane of Main Street on Saturday when he swerved out of the bike lane and into traffic. He later died at UNC Hospitals from injuries sustained in the accident. <\/p>\n<p>This week, Harman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends and family bid him farewell, sharing their many stories and memories of the man who dubbed himself \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The King of Carrboro.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to piece together the stories of Harman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, as he told many different accounts of his history to his friends in downtown Carrboro. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153For all the things he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s told me over the years, I could write a book,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Cliff Collins, owner of Cliff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Meat Market. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He told a lot of fascinating stories.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Harman could often be seen throughout downtown Carrboro \u00e2\u20ac\u201c tall and gaunt, with a distinct broken gait and headphones. He spent time playing his guitar at Open Eye Caf\u00c3\u00a9 and at Cliff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Meat Market, telling Collins about his daily encounters. <\/p>\n<p>Harman was known in town as a war veteran, though depending on who you talk to, he could have fought in either Korea or Vietnam. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been told that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most likely true is that he was a longtime coal miner, born and raised in West Virginia, who left home at 14, Collins said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He spent a lot of time down in the ground,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Collins said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He took lots of chances when he was there.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Collins recalled Harman telling him of an accident in which Harman broke his neck, causing his head to forever have a slight tremor. <\/p>\n<p>Following his life as a coal miner, Harman spent time working on the parking deck at UNC Hospitals, boxing in Alabama and working in Charlotte, Collins said. <\/p>\n<p>Regardless of whether he was a miner, war veteran or boxer, what is certain is that Harman was a man who loved to make friends, talk with strangers and chat with children. He loved music \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially country \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and taking pictures, which he often made prints of to give to his photographic subjects. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was a loner at first,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Collins said, recalling the first time he met Harman sometime around 1999 or 2000. Harman was riding his bike past Collins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 store and yelled something at him, and Collins yelled back. Harman then came up to him and asked for a job. <\/p>\n<p>A few years later, Harman was kicked out of the homeless shelter for fighting and had nowhere to live. Collins agreed to let him stay in one of the downtown apartments he owns for a few months. A few months turned into seven or eight years, he said, laughing. <\/p>\n<p>After some time here, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153his life blossomed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Collins said. <\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Harman had several run-ins with cars, including a particularly bad accident near the corner of Greensboro and Main streets in 2003. The accidents didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t keep him from being active, however, and he continued walking and riding his bike around town until the end. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The circumstances of his death really suit him. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather go,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Lydia Lewallen, one of Harman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s close friends and his former neighbor, who first met Harman walking around downtown Carrboro. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He yelled at me one day. He called me \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcRed,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Lewallen, a redhead. <\/p>\n<p>The two shared a hallway between their apartments. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Most of our time was sharing space,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lewallen said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was really difficult to have a conversation with him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Still, they managed to have a number of conversations, about things like human dignity, racism and mental health. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was very much interested in his personal dignity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lewallen said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He had a lot of shame surrounding that. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know his psychiatric history and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even really think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relevant.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Harman was an extremely giving person, and spent much of his mining pension buying gifts for others, Collins said. <\/p>\n<p>Lewallen said when her bike was stolen, Harman left one outside her apartment door with a bouquet of fake flowers. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was a lot of gift giving,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Lewallen also recalls Harman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confidence, and the pleasure he took in being a local celebrity. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He always used to call himself the King of Carrboro. He was definitely into being known,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lewallen said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was so impressed with himself,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Collins added. Harman once told Collins that he was the most popular man in Carrboro.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was a true character. I know that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never forget him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lewallen said. <\/p>\n<p>A memorial service for Harman will be held today (Thursday) at 6 p.m. at Walker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Funeral Home. Open Eye Caf\u00c3\u00a9 plans to hold a memorial soon as well; check Open Eye for updates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are certain people in small towns who become recognizable to many, whose stories are retold among residents, who become a part of the landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19557"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19742,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19557\/revisions\/19742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}