John Harrigan, the preeminent voice of the outdoors, saw it all

By RAY DUCKLER

Monitor columnist

Published: 01-06-2023 9:46 AM

She went around to the side of the building, bypassing the media and chaos out front.

She knocked on her father’s window at the News and Sentinel office in the North Country. John Harrigan opened the door to let Karen Doolan in, then quickly moved back to his desk, to write a story on the verge of going national.

“I called my brother and we went north as fast as we could,” Doolan said in an interview. “We got there at 7 at night. It was surreal. He was writing the editorial.”

Harrigan got his paper out that night, on Aug. 19, 1997, hours after two of his friends and two state troopers had been shot and killed by a disgruntled citizen.

It’s a date that emerges from Doolan quickly, like she’s said it before, like she’ll say it again, and it’s a defining moment for a giant in the world of newspapers and nature in the Granite State.

Harrigan, whose “Woods, Water & Wildlife” column ran in the New Hampshire Sunday News for nearly 40 years, passed away recently from cancer at the age of 75. He was the editor and publisher of the Sentinel the day a lone gunman shot and killed four people – colleague Dennis Joos, longtime friend Vickie Bunnell, and State Troopers Scott Phillips and Leslie Lord.

He had a closer view of the murders than any media organization and felt compelled to report what he knew. Only a story like that could supersede what Harrigan is also known for, which is writing about every angle imaginable on hunting, fishing and the beauty the land had to offer.

“He was a typical silly dad when I was younger,” said Doolan, who lives in Lancaster. “He was known to take me out of school so we could go fishing. He made sure we appreciated the outdoors.”

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Doolan said that one of the lessons she took from her father was finding peace in nature.

“A friend after his death said he taught him to view the woods as a cathedral,” Doolan said. “That’s what he taught us, that’s what he passed along to us. When in the woods I want to be quiet and listen to what the woods say to me.”

Harrigan is remembered for mentoring young reporters as the publisher of the Coos County Democrat and the News and Sentinel.

He evolved into a strong voice in the North Country, in Lancaster and Colebrook, tackling tough issues in print such as the Northern Pass transmission project, which would have brought Hydro-Quebec power to southern New England. In a published report, Harrigan denounced the idea, saying it would “scar” the landscape.

Doolan was named editor of the Sentinel in 2000 and purchased it in 2002. She remains the paper’s publisher and editor.

Meanwhile, Harrigan’s family home on South Hill in Colebrook served as a meeting place for talk, talk and more talk. Harrigan called it a ‘Barnyard Stop.’

“He had a varied circle of friends,” Doolan said. “They would crash on the couch, wildlife writers and biologists. He had a community of writers and he loved hosting people.”

Harrigan had already built a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable outdoorsmen in the newspaper business when his life changed. He arrived at work shortly after the Colebrook murders. He wrote his editorial once he was cleared by the police.

“One of his dearest friends (Bunnell) was lying dead outside in the parking lot and he got the paper out that night,” Doolan said. “He had to tear apart the front page and start over.”

Thankfully, Harrigan’s material over the next 25 years stuck to the outdoors. He began sketching recently and liked cribbage and the World Cup.

“People visiting to play cribbage was when he was at his best,” Doolan said, “other than when he was writing.”

Recently, her father began slowing down. In fact, his hip replacement surgery four years ago developed an infection that almost killed him.

“I thought we would lose him,” Doolan said. “The last few years have been bonus time.”

An MRI in early November revealed tumors on his brain. Metastatic melanoma was also discovered. Harrigan grew weary, choosing not to continue treatment.

“He said, ‘Enough was enough,’ ” Doolan said.

Doolan said she still forgets that her father is gone.

“I cannot get my head around that fact,” she said. “I still find myself watching a movie and thinking I have to call him about it, I have to get in touch, then I realize he’s dead.”

Harrigan died at the hospital on Dec. 26. He was 75. Leading up to Christmas, during his last few days at home, the family bought a tree and decorated it while he sat and watched nearby.

“He enjoyed that,” Doolan said. “He had fun. It was a real tree. A fake tree would not have been acceptable.”

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