Op Eds

     Is anyone out there wondering what has happened to famed photographer Harrison Wilde, who retired a few years ago from The Palladium-Times?

     As the former editor of the newspaper, Debra Lupien Robillard knows first-hand how much Wilde's absence from the paper was immediately noticed and missed.
     "It was such a loss when the local paper no longer had an official photographer of Harrison's caliber," she said. "Now, I am so happy to announce that iHeartOswego.com is fortunate enough to have him as our official photographer."
     Even though Wilde retired in 2009, he never retired from his passion. He has still been busy taking pictures when asked and said one of the coolest things he has done recently was photographing the 500 motorcycles traveling from Oswego to Sterling as part of a ceremony dedicating part of the highway as the "Vietnam Veteran Memorial Highway." He has also been doing family portraits, weddings as well as just taking pictures for himself.
      Now as the photographer for Oswego's new website, iHeartOswego.com, residents of the Port City can once again appreciate and enjoy Wilde's natural talent for capturing a memory with a striking and powerful photo.
     Some things people may not know about Wilde is his enthusiasm and wide range of knowledge in regard to history. He also collects antiques and buys and sells classic cars.
     Since retirement, he said he has been busy renovating the family homestead in Hannibal, which has been in the family since 1867. But retirement has also afforded him the opportunity to do more research into his family's history.
     Wilde said he has been reading through family letters, working on his family tree and has even contacted relatives he had not known existed. He said he also learned from an expert that the pronunciation he uses for his surname is the correct one.
     "Wĭl-dee is the correct way to pronounce it, not 'Wīld'," Wilde said.
        "We hope everyone will go to Harrison's photo gallery on our site and take time clicking through them as they capture all that is wonderful about Oswego, particularly the people," Robillard said.