Monday, September 23, 2024
Q: How did you meet Gary?
A: I met Gary when I was 15 years old. I needed work done on my 1973 Yamaha DT 175 Enduro. He had a small shop across the road from the Bull Pen Tavern and I dropped off the bike and I stopped by a couple of days later to check on the progress.
When I walked into his shop, the bike’s motor was completely apart, and Gary was working on it. He looked up at me and said sternly. “You ran this thing out of oil, didn’t you!” I hung my head low in disgrace at my neglect of a perfectly fine Japanese engineered, youthful perfection.
Gary said, “Well, I’ll see what I can do,” come back at the end of the week.
Gary was able to revive my first real motorcycle that week and it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
Gary was strongly opinionated, steadfast in his beliefs, and uncompromising. He did not try to impress anyone; he was kind of like a cowboy. Although Gary has passed on, one thing a cowboy will never do, is leave his friends’ hearts.
-Michael B. Harris
