Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 02/10/10

By: tomgrisafi

Although we often say Trading is dangerous, it is by no means as dangerous as the day to day lifestyle of an Alaskan Crab Fisherman.

Phil Harris, whose life as a captain off the Alaskan coast was documented on the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch", died Tuesday night at the age of 53.

The reality show has been one of the Discovery Channel's most popular, and has been running for the past 5 seasons.

In a statement, Discovery Channel senior vice president Elizabeth Hillman says, "Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him."

"We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart," she said.

On January 29th, Harris suffered a massive stroke. Per Harris's website, he had seemed to be improving and was described as "showing great progress".

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse.

Harris started working in the industry at the very young age of 7. At the age of 21 Harris ran a fishing vessel out of Seattle, and was known as one of the youngest ever to captain a vessel in the Bearing Sea.

We here at Indiana Grain know better than to compare the dangers of trading with the dangers of being an Alaskan crab fisherman. That being said, we believe their is a lesson here from Harris's passing.

Life is short, and sometimes it's easy to take the important things in life for granted. Some trading days are good, others not so much, but knowing tomorrow is another day is always comforting.

Watching the Deadliest Catch here at the Indiana Grain Trading Floor will not be the same without Phil Harris onboard.