Garry Harrison

Born August 16, 1954, in Charleston, to Clifford O. and Pauline (Mason) Harrison. Passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 4, 2012, in his home in Bloomington, Indiana age 58,. Learned to play old-time fiddle from his father, later playing in bands Indian Creek Delta Boys, New Mules. Taught himself to build fiddles and other stringed instruments. He collected and restored a complete catalog of autoharps and fretless zithers, then donated that collection to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. In the 1970s, he began collecting and recording old-time music from senior musicians in Illinois which resulted in a collection that is housed in the Library of Congress and also in a book titled “Dear Old Illinois.”