To the Editor:
Dirty Dan may have been a scoundrel, but he hardly compares with the scoundrels of today. The conversation between Dean Kahn and H. Leon Greene offers a refreshing and nuanced look at one of Fairhaven’s most colorful figures.
It is striking how “Dirty Dan” Harris — long reduced to legend — continues to pique our curiosity when examined with historical rigor. Greene’s work reminds us that community founders can be both visionary and flawed, and that understanding the full story only deepens our connection to place.
Thank you for highlighting scholarship that enriches our regional history. I sure wish Greene could find why young Dan left Long Island.
—Micki Jackson, Bellingham; June 5, 2026