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Blackbird Harrison 2008-10-19 - Roley Cemetery, Casey Creek, KY - Photo by Bob Chelf. BLACKBIRD HARRISON--pay no attention to the name "John" on the brass buckle--can whittle a shaving as thin as any with as tight a curl as any man who ever put a Case knife to cedar. But his fame and name derive from his reputation as the best mechanic ever to set foot in Edith, KY or on Blue Branch Road. "I don't work on cars much any more, but I fixed a many a one," he says. He was the favorite local mechanic of the late Henry Giles. But it was another Giles, the legendary Walter, who doused a head fire and gave him his name. "I was working on a car with the motor running," Mr. Harrison said, "and the carburetor backfired on me and set my hair on fire. Walter was there, and he put the fire out with his oily gloves. Then he looked at me and said, 'You look like a blackbird.' I went in the house to wash my face, and sure enough," he said, "I looked like a blackbird." The name, he said, stuck. And more people know him by the sobriquet than by his given name, "John." John Harrison was at the Roley Cemetery, Sunday afternoon, October 19, 2008, with relatives Joyce Pogue and Imogene Roberts looking for Harrison ancestors. Joyce Pogue was also wanting more information about an establishment north of Knifley, KY, known as "The Voting Precinct." If anyone recalls the scope of that the social gathering place, please send to ColumbiaMagazine.com using one of the Contact/Submit buttons. A Today Feature picture Read More... | Permalink | Comments?

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