Phil as I like to think of him, smiling into the distance while skippering the Cornelia Marie
As those of you who are fans of the show know by now, Captain Phil Harris passed away February 9, 2010 after having a stroke while in port off-loading crab on St. Paul island. It’s taken me this long to be able to post anything about it here.
Phil was my favorite captain on the Discovery show Deadliest Catch, and was skipper of the F/V Cornelia Marie. He’s had health issues for a few years now, but his fans had hoped those were close to being resolved. Sadly, this was not the case. Many, many people have written comments on various boards all over the internet about how sad Capt. Phil’s passing is. Most remarkable to me is that many people, including myself, felt such an affinity for Phil that even though many of us have never met him, we feel like we lost a close friend. Mike Rowe said here that people were drawn to Phil because “the world is desperate for authenticity…and Phil Harris had it in spades”. Truer words were never spoken.
I know some people will say it’s foolish to get so upset over somebody on a TV show. But after watching every episode of Deadliest Catch, and worrying about Phil and the boys in the off-season, missing that ray of down-to-earth sunshine, I truly feel like one of my friends is gone. You could always count on Phil to have some great comment, like his explanation of fishing by looking for crab farts – which, by the way, apparently works, judging by their success. He’d always tell it like it is, and the world needs more of that honesty.
I wonder what will happen now. Nobody will be able to fill Phil’s chair on the Cornelia Marie, but life must go on. I hope that whatever Josh and Jake Harris choose to do now, the path they follow is one that leads to happiness and a sense of fulfillment. I’m glad they got time with their Dad before the end, as described in this article from People.com.