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O


lder siblings are often to blame for the growth and maturation of the youngest in the family. Lee Harrelson is a perfect


example; he blames his older brothers for almost everything, including the reason he became a professional photographer, why he rides a BMW and even his deep love of music. It’s also the reason he’s served as the Entertainment Chair at every BMW MOA International Rally since 2009. The youngest of five boys, Lee grew up


like many of the babies of the family do. Parental leniency is typically greater with younger children, and sometimes a wrong path can be taken by a son or two. Maybe Lee was simply hanging around with the wrong crowd. Whatever the reason, Lee was getting into trouble away from home, which one day led to he and a couple of friends being picked up by the police. Scared and alone, Lee believed his only


option was to run away from home to avoid the anger of his parents he thought were sure to kill him. During his “bout with juvenile delinquency,” it was his oldest brother Keith, a professional photographer, who took notice and pulled Lee under his wing. “Keith handed me a 35mm camera and a


roll of black and white film and told me to go take some pictures of my friends,” Lee said. After Keith showed Lee the magical pro-


cesses of film developing and print making, Lee discovered a passion he didn’t know he had. Before long his days as a delinquent faded in his life’s rear view mirror. Excited about the new passion he’s dis-


covered and apparently forgetting his par- ents’ anger, Lee recalls when he finally went home to report his plans to become a pro- fessional


photographer. Knowing how


Keith was struggling to become established and probably living on peanut butter, they were not impressed. “I’ll never forget my father’s face,” Lee


said. “He looked at me and just shook his head as if to say, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, son.’” Despite their initial lack of enthusiasm,


they supported his dream. Lee took the first step by taking a job at a local camera store. While the job didn’t offer the creative outlet that Lee so desperately sought, it brought him to a place he could share his love of photography with coworkers and


78 BMW OWNERS NEWS August 2016


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