On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 6:56:01 PM UTC-4, Hyfler/Rosner wrote:
> RON HARRY; WAS ORGANIST FOR CELTICS, BRUINS GAMES
>
> Boston Globe
> Ron Harry, who pumped out rally riffs along with touches of
> musical whimsy as the organist for the Celtics and Bruins at
> Boston Garden and the FleetCenter, died Sunday of an
> apparent blood clot while vacationing in Hawaii, the
> Associated Press reported. He was 75.
>
> Mr. Harry succeeded a legend, John Kiley, as organist for
> the Celtics and Bruins in 1984. For the first few seasons,
> Mr. Harry tended to be a low-key musical observer of the
> action.
>
> "They didn't want the rah-rah stuff," he told the
> Globe in 1994. "I was told not to play 'Charge' under
> penalty of death."
>
> As loud music and musically scripted rallying cries
> became commonplace in arenas across the country, Mr. Harry
> expanded his repertoire, as well as his volume, at the
> games.
>
> His selections drawn across a musical landscape from
> hymnals to hard rock could carry a veiled dart at an
> opponent but they were mainly marked by his sense of humor.
>
> "Every now and then, I do something that breaks me up,
> but I don't know if people get it," he told the Globe.
> During one game in the holiday season, for example, he
> followed a bloody fight on the ice with "Let There Be Peace
> on Earth."
>
> When Bill Walton was a member of the Celtics, Mr. Harry
> often greeted his entrance to a game with a Grateful Dead
> song, a favorite of the free-spirited Walton.
>
> One of Mr. Harry's trademarks was performing the song "It's
> A Great Day Tonight For the Irish," as the Celtics took the
> floor for warm-ups, Jeff Twiss, vice president of media
> relations for the team, told the Associated Press.
>
> "He never wanted to be seen but always wanted to be heard,"
> Twiss recalled. "You might see him in the press room before
> a game. But he always want to be in the background, and
> didn't want the accolades."
>
> Mr. Harry, who retired from the Bruins in 1995, continued
> to work for the Celtics through the past season.
>
> Mr. Harry, a Boston native who lived in Mason, N.H., had
> studied at the Cushing Academy in Ashburnham and the
> Juilliard School in New York City. In addition to his work
> at the FleetCenter, he had played at Boston area clubs.
>
> He arrived in Honolulu on Aug. 2 and indicated he was not
> feeling well, said Sanchia Roberts, a friend of more than 40
> years. However, she said, he was able to take part in a
> number of activities, including a luncheon cruise, during
> which he saw a pod of dolphins.
>
> "He recalled how my husband and I talked of seeking whales
> and dolphins but that he had never seen them, and now he
> had," she said.
>
> Mr. Harry's friendship with Roberts and her husband, Bobby,
> dates back 42 years, when they performed together around
> Boston, she said.
>
> "He originally worked for my father when he managed the
> Hotel Touraine in Boston," she said.
>
> Mr. Harry was to be buried in a cemetery across from his
> home, the Associated Press reported.