Thursday, May 28, 2009

Remembering the Fort Fisher Hermit

I can remember a class trip to Fort Fisher/Kure Beach in eighth grade or so (that would've been, oh, 1988 or '89) when the adults on the trip were swapping tales about once spotting the Fort Fisher Hermit, Robert E. Harrill.

Harrill, according to Carolina Beach Today, lived in a bunker and lived off the land, eating plants and animals.

The N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher will be showing the documentary, "The Fort Fisher Hermit: The Life & Death of Robert E. Harrill," May 31 (3 p.m.) and June 13 (8 a.m.).

The movie "explores this unique individual through a series of interviews, photographs and vintage film footage.

“We are ecstatic over the amount of visual documentation that has been collected” said Scott Davis, one of the forces behind the movie. “Robert Harrill has to be the most photographed homeless person in history,” added Bryan Mahoney.

(Image of Harrill from Carolina Beach Today)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is a new book of photographs out now by Fred Pickler that might interest people. It's called Life and Times of the Fort Fisher Hermit and you can get it a www.thehermitbook.com

mf said...

There is a great book around about the hermit, written by Michael Edwards. The latest one is "The Last Battle for Independence-The Story of the Fort Fisher Hermit. Last time I checked there were some on Amazon.com

Anonymous said...

Michael Edwards has put his last book, "Adverse Possessions-The Complete Story of Robert E. Harrill, The Fort Fisher Hermit" on CD (PDF file). It can be ordered directly from him at neversanever@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Michael Edwards has put his last book, "Adverse Possessions-The Complete Story of Robert E. Harrill, The Fort Fisher Hermit" on CD (PDF file). It can be ordered directly from him at neversanever@hotmail.com