My little ones,
I have some hard news. Richard Harris, Trouble’s dad, the mayor of the dog park and the first regular you ever met there, died in his sleep last night. He was 58.
He died after doing his second-favorite thing: cooking for friends. He made dinner in his new pizza oven, dined, laughed, shared his love, said good night and was gone by 4 a.m.
His favorite thing was Trouble, his 12-year-old rescue that taught him to love dogs. He used not to, but said that when he met Trouble, he knew he was in it, because he was head over heels.
From that moment, he became the smiling face of the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash dog park. He walked dogs there for 20 years under the business name Sitters O’ Critters, and seemed to remember the name of every person and pup he ever met.
If you were a regular at the park, you knew Richard, along with his daily query: “Whatchu doin for lunch? I want something delicious.” A park regular called him “the Great Connector” of people at the park, who became a community — bound by his love of dogs, the park, and the palpable chemistry of that combination.
Born in Hawaii but raised in Pittsburgh, Richard was an eight-year military veteran and served in the Gulf War before civilian life. He could have lived a cubicle existence, and knew how to invest.
But he would say he could never give up a life with dogs, dog people, and the California sun.
Every day, he’d show up in a crapped out Scooby Doo van with at least a dozen of his charges, each of which got their own crate for safe passage. You two would greet him daily, barking hellos to his squadron of fur and fang.
I can’t tell you what the park will feel like tomorrow. Surely empty. Some of your friends may not be back. I know one of mine won’t.
But Richard would never forgive us if we didn’t show up, didn’t love on the fur babies, didn’t marvel at the Cali weather and canine frenzy that brought us together in the first place.
So let’s try keep it together tomorrow. Better than dad did today.
Afterwards, we’ll get something delicious.
