Classmate Chronicles – Ray Hutchison

It was so exciting, June 6, 1968…  Looking forward to so many things, and not thinking backwards about what was, but rather forward, what was to be.  No offense intended, but most of you were not on my radar.

As the years go by things change.  So many of you come back to mind for one reason or another; but Ray “Harpo” Hutchison was not one who I thought would I’d see again.  Bounce forward to sometime in the new millennium.  I’m watching Iowa Public Television (don’t ask me why) and I see a special about Dubuque, Iowa’s Light Bulb Man.  Okay, it’s Dubuque, I’ll watch; and there was Ray.  I always have fond memories of Ray, the enthusiastic, happy guy with the ever present smile, the guy who always danced like no one was watching.

So after the PBS series, I began explore the Internet world of Ray; and what a wonderful place to be.  The following are links to what I have found about our classmate.  I had the pleasure of seeing Ray at a Dubuque Rock and Roll Rewind recently, and it was a moment where I went back to those happy days where he danced like no one was watching, like I wish I had.

In a conversation about Ray with a lifelong friend of mine who knows him, he commented that Ray is quite possibly savant; his knowledge of baseball facts, figures and statistics is phenomenal, and without the aid of a smart phone or computer.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

2015 Tim Olson Facebook Page about Harpo

2006 Andy Roche video – “Don’t Shoot the Powder”

Michael Nagle photo of Harpo (a personal favorite)