by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
Judges and family and friends of the Hon. James L. Harrison gathered Thursday for a portrait presentation ceremony that was presided over by Chief Judge Don Moran in Courtroom 4 of the Duval County Courthouse honoring the senior judge.
Among those present to share memories of Harrison were some of his longtime friends including State Attorney Harry Shorstein, Forensic Consultant Ernest C. Miller and Florida Bar President Hank Coxe.
“Judge Harrison truly is a mentor of mine and truly an inspiration,” said Shorstein. “He is a true gentleman of the law. I know no better lawyer, judge, counsel or friend than Judge Harrison.”
Coxe, in addition to a few anecdotes about his history with Harrison, said. “Judge Harrison, you represent the best of what we all aspire to be.”
Also in attendance for the ceremony were Harrison’s children, grandchildren and great grandson Jake Scarberry and his wife of 59 years, Kay.
“This day is memorable for me, but it is also memorable for the one who has made it all happen and that’s my loving wife,” Harrison said of Kay, through tears. “They say a woman can make a fool out of man. A woman can also make a man out of a fool. Thank you my darling.”
Harrison joked that at the age of 81 many of his faculties are failing, but that he can still recognize kind words and then thanked each of his speakers for their comments.
“I’m happy to be here. But at my age, I’m happy to be anywhere,” he said, adding that because of the number of aging judges, Chief Judge Don Moran has ordered seat belts for the chairs of all senior judges.
“I sometimes drool a bit and it’s not uncommon for me to walk into a room and ask myself, ‘what am I doing here again?’.”
Harrison, who became a member of The Florida bar in 1968, is the city’s first living judge to be honored with a portrait.
Court Administrator Britt Beasley said Harrison’s “photographic” portrait, created by artists Diane Uhley and Ed Fernandez, is also the first to use the type of technology used to create the image. The print is refined with “mouse strokes” instead of paint strokes and is mounted on a canvas stretcher frame.
“The photograph portrait of Judge Harrison is actually the culmination of four photographs that have been blended to produce a single image,” he said. “(The portrait) will preserve the history of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. You may look at it and marvel because it really is quite distinctive.”