March 22nd 1974 — Rupert Harris had been taking wood from White Rock Beach to burn in his fireplace since 1924 when I stumbled upon him while looking for pictures on a slow news day in March. There was no real story but reporter Nicole Parton (then Strickland) thought Rupert was worth a try for an interview so drove out and sat with him beside a roaring spitting fire in his house, drinking tea, eating oatmeal cookies, asking questions. She didn’t find out much, not even his age, only that he takes a sixth of a cord at a time and the hard work of cutting and splitting the wood “keeps the doctor away”. Four pictures ran on the front page of the Province’s lifestyles section. The dog’s name was Gyp.
