A Ray for Harry

My brother's name is Harry C. Walker Jr. He is the Principal of Norwood Elementary School in Dundalk, MD. Each year, he challenges his students to read more and more books. If they accomplish the goal, he does some sort of stunt to get them pumped up. One year the deal was that if they read 10,000 books he would spend the night on the roof of the school - the kids loved it, they had a big party because their principal was stuck up on the roof all night while they slept comfortably in their beds. The next year, the bar was raised to 20,000 books. The payoff? Tethered Hot Air balloon rides for the biggest readers plus names drawn at random.

This year, if they collectively read for one million minutes, he will voluntarily throw himself into a tank filled with sharks and stingrays at the Baltimore Aquarium. The kids are going to love this. Can you remember when you were a kid ? Wouldn't you have loved to see your school principal in some situation where he or she might be the one who is nervous? You will find me out front, on Light Street, holding a sign that reads " FEED HIM TO THE SHARKS ! "

P.S.- Just a note: My brother is a Certified Scuba Diver. He wants to be "thrown into a one million gallon aquarium with tropical fish". The sharks in this tank are not the ones that bite you real hard so it sounds real cool. "You go Harry!"

Marble Mountain

My father - Harry Sr., had a big retirement pary. My mother asked if I would make a sculpture that would commemorate my dad's story in stone. The story is carved into Italian gold-veined marble. It shows an eagle flying from the cities, a fish in it's claws. The central form - a mountain is a symbol of the company he built - Matterhorn Bank Programs. At the base is a foundation of stone. A larger figure - the father is shown as a symbolic nurturer with the mother in a supporting role. Five children are symbolically represented in his arms.