Meet the Garridebs: Harrison “Terry” Hunt

Continuing with our series of posts, where we meet our fellow members, we now feature the 31st Garrideb – Harrison “Terry” Hunt.

Terry chose “The Long Island Cave Mystery” as his investiture moniker.  Terry explains, “I am a native of Long Island, with family roots going back to the 1600’s.  I lived there until a few years ago, and am an avid local historian, so the only mention of the place in the Canon is special to me.  There is a connection with numismatics, too, which I’ll explore in the future.”

Hunt is retired after spending 35 years as a museum curator with the Nassau County, Long Island, Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums.  As Senior Curator of History,  Hunt researched and developed plans for interpreting historic houses and events at Old Bethpage Village Restoration and other places, ran the museum’s historical music and dance programs and created exhibits on many topics.  As Supervisor of Historic Sites, Hunt oversaw the restoration and operation of several other sites including two grist mills, the poet William Cullen Bryant’s home and The Knothole, the retreat of writer Christopher Morley, founder of the Baker Street Irregulars.

Since retiring, Hunt and his wife, Linda, have moved up the Hudson River to Catskill, NY.  Terry keeps busy with hobbies and puttering around their 150-year-old house and with writing historical and Sherlockian studies; He has a book about Long Island’s role in the Civil War coming out in April, and Linda and Terry have two other books on the horizon.  Terry also helps out at the Greene County Historical Society’s library, where Linda is librarian and archivist, and chairs the Society’s Historical Register committee.

Linda and Terry collect items relating to the poet William Cullen Bryant and his family and they have a number of pieces of exonumia related to them. His favorite Sherlockian story is The Valley of Fear. In addition to the works of Dr. Watson and Christopher Morley, Terry enjoys the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Bruce Caton.

Hunt was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars in 2014 as “The Something Hunt” and is invested as “A Coffee and Curacao” in the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes. Terry also holds memberships in the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, the Three Garridebs of Westchester County, the Sons of the Copper Beeches, Mycroft’s League, the Speckled Band of Boston, the John H Watson Society, the Montague Street Lodgers, Mrs. Hudson’s Cliff Dwellers, the Hudson Valley Sciontists, the Epilogues of Sherlock Holmes and the Priory Scholars of New York.

Linda and Terry co-founded the Grillparzer Club of the Hoboken Free State, which commemorates Christopher Morley and acts as a bridge between Sherlockian and non-Sherlockian Morley buffs. That group will be having its annual meeting coming up on May 3rd in Rosslyn, New York. The group also publishes a bi-annual journal, Hoboken Nights, and a newsletter, The Bowling Green.

Terry’s Sherlockian collecting interest is primarily writings about the writings, especially BSI history and Morley-related materials. His other hobbies and interests include Civil War reenacting as a Union Army Surgeon (a good tie-in to Watson), cooking, being a Tenor in their church choir, classical music and British television.

Recently, Terry has started collecting ties relating to the 60 stories of the Canon.  We look forward to his sharing a picture of his tie when he finds one related to The Three Garridebs.

Many of you may recall Terry’s earlier contribution to our site, The Highly Irregular Shilling.