HARPER COMPANY  

Frequently Asked Questions


Why all the cars?
What is the purpose of this site?
Does anyone frequently ask these questions?
Why don't you post stories and articles?
What about the boats?
What is North Puffin?
Where is Highgate?
Where is Key Colony Beach?
How long have you lived there?
Why haven't I heard of you?

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Why do you have cars on the front page?

      The complete racing story is here

What is the purpose of this site?

      To show off, of course.
      These pages allow us to exhibit and offer for sale some of our fine art, photographs, and words in a row. Not to mention the chance to introduce all of the Harpers willing to pose for the camera. Note that the harper Company business site can be found here.

Who frequently asks these questions?

      No one, as far as we know.

Why don't you post your stories and articles here?

      Dick sells this stuff, so the prose on this site takes the form of teasers and samples. You can find an extensive library of his free "How To" articles over at the harper Company.

What about the boats?

      Chan and Mary owned cruisers ranging from a little 21' plywood express to the 50' Bristol they lived aboard. The family spent every available moment on the water, starting in the Delaware River, migrating to the Eastern Shore, and ending in the Florida Keys. Dick, who really planned to be a naval architect when he grew up, has designed and manufactured sportboats and control systems including the 15' Spitfire and the 30-48' hastia line.
      Chan and Mary lived in the Keys; Dick is now a Conch Republican but he and Anne also share afarmhouse on the "not-quite-Great- but-still-pretty-darned-Good" Lake Champlain with a runabout and a small daysailer.
      Dick and Anne plan to retire on a boat.
      "One of these days," he said.
      "It can't come a minute too soon," she said.

What is the North Puffin connection?

      Elsewhere, Dick lists some of the North Puffin attractions: a variable population beloved of census takers, the famed North Puffin Research Institute, a kitchen appliance collection, and the aroma therapy shop. Most writers at one time or another create an imaginary world. Speculative fiction hosts outer space and inner depths. Dramatists need an electrifying setting. Humorists tap that vein of the odd to keep you off balance. Opinion writers occasionally want to shield the innocent and protect the guilty.
      North Puffin lets him do exactly that.

Where is Highgate?

      Highgate is a Town (township) in Franklin County, Vermont, with strong economic and cultural ties to agriculture. The Town is tucked hard against the Canadian border and forms part of the west coast of New England with the northernmost shoreline on Lake Champlain. The Highgate economy is based on farms, small businesses and manufacturing companies, and one of the best family resorts in the nation.

Where is Key Colony Beach?

      KCB is an incorporated city in Monroe County, Florida, at the geographic midpoint of the Florida Keys. The city is a vibrant, four-season, bedroom community with mostly canal and ocean-front single-family homes. The Keys economy is based on tourism, small businesses and retailing, and one of the most comfortable climates in the nation.

How long have you lived there?

      Dick is a ninth generation Pennsylvanian by birth, a Vermonter by adoption, and a Conch by choice. Mary's great-x7-grandfather (ergo Dick's great-x-8) Richard Barnard emigrated from England in 1642. Dick and Anne moved to Highgate in 1978 where they both lived longer than anywhere else in their lives; Chan and Mary moved to Florida in 1984. Dick completed the cycle a few years later.

If you are a great [artist/photographer/writer] why haven't I heard of you?

      Fame is such a fleeting thing. Dick chairs an arts council that makes over three million advertising impressions each year in a county of 43,000 people. There are plenty of people who have never heard of the AAC, either, right in that county.
      Dick writes over 100,000 words (about the length of a typical novel) each year in news and op-ed columns, articles and occasional fiction. He appears regularly on local radio and television, and participates in several Internet forums.
      Mary chaired the nationally popular Chester County Day committee. A featured artist in several galleries and exhibitions, her paintings adorn private galleries all over the United States.
      "It's not so bad," Dick said. "Some folks have never heard of William Shakespear and I'll never be in his league."
      .

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