Roger D Harris

Roger D. Harris of Bennington, Vt., died at the age of 94 on October 5, 2021, in the Bennington Hospital (SVMC) where he had been admitted to receive treatment for a non-Covid-related infection. Roger's final moments were spent listening to classical music as a nurse held his hand. Roger was born in Middleboro, Mass., on April 22, 1927, the son of Frank A. Harris, a school bus driver, and the former Winifred S. Deane, a homemaker. He's survived by his brother, Arthur H. Harris, Ph.D., of El Paso, Texas. After Roger was discharged from the Army as a staff sergeant at the end of WW II, he traveled around the country before settling in Boston and later in North Adams, Mass., where he operated a small used-book shop, which he named New Englandiana ("25,000 Good Used Books"). Roger prided himself on being a book dealer, not a rare-book collector, and enjoyed the idea of helping to get good books into the hands of readers. In addition to selling from his shop, he also sent out a monthly mailing list of books he acquired on subjects pertaining to New England. In 1979 he and his bibliophile colleague, Jill Hays, acquired a historic house in Old Bennington and later the former Holden Mill company store, where Roger reopened his shop-all the while mailing out his manually typed book list, which he maintained until his death. Roger's remains will be interred in the family plot in Middleboro, which is being arranged by Hanson Walbridge & Shea Family Funeral Homes of Bennington, VT. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Harvest House Soup Kitchen, c/o Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home PO Box 957 Bennington, VT 05201.