Longtime Maine newspaperman M.D. Harmon has died after a shooting accident Wednesday. A staunch conservative, Harmon worked as a reporter, editor and columnist at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram for more than 40 years.
Throughout his career, Harmon defended conservative points of view pretty much across the board.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 he was a No. 10 conservative on military issues, he was a No. 10 conservative on economic issues, he was a No. 20 conservative on social issues. He just hit the mark on all three,” says Greg Kesich, the editor of the Press Herald’s editorial pages.
Kesich says Harmon could be counted on to defend gun rights, condemn abortion and oppose same-sex marriage. And as a comparative liberal, Kesich says when he joined the editorial team a decade ago, he expected to be in frequent conflict with Harmon.
“But I wasn’t. because he was a tremendous person to work with. He was very kind. He was incredibly professional. He had some skills, some old newspaper skills, that you just don’t see anymore. He could proof a page faster than anybody, just find all the typos. He was a very meticulous editor,” he says.
Police say Harmon was at his Sanford home showing a teenage boy a handgun when the weapon accidentally discharged. His wife, Margaret Harmon, told the Press Herald the shooting was an accidental tragedy. Police say their investigation is continuing and that those involved are cooperating.
Harmon’s conservatism had a religious component. This year he was ordained as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church, a right-leaning offshoot of the Episcopal Church.
David Newton, a friend and deacon at the Prince of Peace Church in Sanford, where both men worshiped, says Harmon frequently preached the pro-life message, and that outside of the church, he sought to engage in people’s lives.
“Saturday mornings when there was a farmers market in Sanford, he would actually take two lawn chairs, go sit there in his clerical uniform, with a sign that says ‘Father Michael will listen for free.’ And he had people coming up and talking to him about what was going on in their lives. He was trying to reach out to people that way,” he says.
Harmon graduated from high school in Pennsylvania and came to Maine for college, graduating cum laude from Bowdoin. He served in the Army and Army Reserve for seven years, including two spent in Vietnam.
Harmon worked full-time for the Press Herald for 41 years, retiring in 2011. His weekly column continued, though — in this week’s salvo, he condemns President Barack Obama’s policy on Israel, and predicts hard times ahead for the Democratic Party.
Harmon is survived by his wife, three children, and two stepchildren. He was 71 years old.