Harrison was born in
Peterborough,
Ontario, on January 23, 1949 and began curling at age 12. Harrison's father
Burritt was also a curler, having played lead for Ontario at the
1952 Macdonald Brier. Harrison also grew up in Peterborough. Harrison was the long time lead for the
Ed Werenich rink, but he played second for Werenich when they won their first
provincial championship in 1981. The team, which also consisted of
Bob Widdis at third and
Jim McGrath at lead would represent Ontario at the
1981 Labatt Brier, where they finished 4th, following a tie breaker loss to Saskatchewan's
Bob Ellert. The rink went 7–4 after the round robin. The following season however, the rink lost to
Bruce Munro in the Ontario final. Following the loss, the Werenich rink brought on Ed's former skip
Paul Savage to play third, and top junior
John Kawaja to play second. Harrison would throw lead rocks. The new team would be nicknamed the "Dream Team" as the four were all skips. They were also known for their "insufferable ... beyond cocky [and] downright nasty" attitudes. However, the rink was very good, and they would end up not only winning the provincial championship, but also the
1983 Labatt Brier. They lost just one round robin game en route to winning the championship, defeating Alberta's
Ed Lukowich in the final. The team represented Canada at the
1983 Air Canada Silver Broom, the world championship at the time. Again, the team lost just one match en route to winning the gold medal, defeating Germany's
Keith Wendorf in the final. At the Worlds, Harrison became the first curler to play a perfect game. The team won their second straight provincial championship in 1984, and represented Ontario once again at the
1984 Labatt Brier. The team made it all the way to the Brier final, where they lost to
Michael Riley of Manitoba in the final. Following their success in the early 1980s, the team began to perform poorly. Kawaja was removed from the team, replaced by
Graeme McCarrel, with Savage becoming skip, and Werenich throwing third. With Harrison, still playing lead, the team played in the
1987 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, finishing third. The team went on to win the provincial championship again in 1988. At the
1988 Labatt Brier, the team finished third, after losing the semi-final to Saskatchewan's
Eugene Hritzuk. Harrison would later become the team's alternate, when they won the
1990 Labatt Brier and
1990 World Men's Curling Championship. Harrison would only play in one game at the 1990 World Championship, in a match against the United States. Into the early 1990s, Harrison once again played lead for the rink, with their 1990 lead
Pat Perroud throwing second stones. With Savage now off the team, Kawaja was brought back to throw third stones. This new lineup won two provincial championships,
in 1995 and
1997. At the
1995 Labatt Brier, the team made the playoffs after winning a tie breaker match against PEI's
Robert Campbell. However, they were eliminated in their first playoff match against Alberta's
Kevin Martin. The
1997 Labatt Brier would be Harrison's last. The team made it to the playoffs again, only to be eliminated in the playoffs, this time to New Brunswick's
James Grattan. Harrison was inducted into the
Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1991. Harrison won numerous provincial firefighters curling championships, and won national firefighters curling championships in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2007. Later in his life, he wrote for the Ontario Curling Report. He was named captain (not a playing position) of team
North America at the
2011 Continental Cup. Harrison also coached the Scottish men's team at the 2004 World Championship and the U.S. women's team at the 2011 World Championship. In 2009, Werenich, Savage, Kawaja and Harrison were inducted into the
Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Harrison died from cancer at the age 65 on February 24, 2014, after having suffered from a series of strokes. He is survived by his wife Jane and two children, including
Sean. ==References==