Ft Fisher Hermit
May 7th, 2007
by Christine Mayo
Now we’re not talking about any Hermit, but our own locally infamous, philosopher, moutainman, Robert Harrill, The Fort Fisher Hermit. “He made people think” is written on his headstone. Is this why we are so fascinated with his life, or is it the eerie questions surrounding his untimely death?
No matter how you feel you are not alone. With the countless newspaper articles, documentaries, short stories, books, and now a movie, “The Fort Fisher Hermit: The Life and Death of Robert E. Harrill”, we can all get an insight to his life.
And if you get a chance, take some time out to follow a hermit’s path along the Fort Fisher area of Kure Beach, through the marshes and to the hermit’s bunker. With a little imagination, everyone can think like a Hermit for a couple hours.
Robert Harrill once explained his popularity in the New Hanover Sun in 1968, “Everybody ought to be a hermit a few minutes to an hour or so every 24 hours, to study, meditate, and commune with their creator…millions of people want to do just what I’m doing, but since it is much easier thought of than done, they subconsciously elect me to represent them, that’s why I’m successful…”.