Art Shay has photographed the famous, the notorious, the ordinary and people who were largely forgotten and ignored. Alive for nearly a century, he is a well known photographer and writer. His works are widely recognizable and have become part of history. He was also a family man who had several children. It is the mystery of his eldest son Harmon, that haunted him and his wife, Florence.
According to a piece that Art Shay wrote, his son was a genius. He had scored a perfect score on his college SAT Exams. He even invented his own electric rollerskate and personal computer years before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were developing their famous companies. Harmon for all his positive attributes got involved in the taking of illicit drugs. Shay believes that his 20 year old son Harmon was murdered in the Hippie Drug lifestyle in the Miami Dade area in May of 1972. He was staying with his grandmother and step-grandfather and had phoned relatives the night of his disappearance they he had met people and would be back in a day or two.
He had dark colored hair and was around five foot nine according to relatives. It is possible that he was murdered in the Miami or Fort Lauderdale areas of Florida. However, it is always a possibility that Harmon could have left his life behind to start a new life.
His mother Florence died in 2012, Art would die in 2018 at the age of 96. Harmon still has siblings and several nieces and nephews. According to a family member of Harmon’s, Art always held on to Harmon’s innovative gadgets and treasured them but it was difficult at times to talk about his genius son. One can only wonder what Harmon Shay would have become if he was allowed to live.
This article by Art Shay talks about Harmon and his amazing accomplishments.
http://chicagoist.com/2011/06/08/from_the_vault_of_art_shay_harmon.php#photo-1
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Great post thank yoou
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