Harry P. Peters (a.k.a. Dr. Anhav DuFwinque) was recently arrested and booked by the metropolitan Wattsburg, Pa police for alleged  panhandling, petty theft , impersonating a celebrity, and attempting to sell marijuana to a minor. These charges were eventually dropped when another similar looking man (Neil Knadsaak) came forward to admit his guilt in all of the crimes except the impersonation charge.

But, as the booking & investigation were taking place, a lot of other lies were exposed. The arrested man's name is actually Harry P. Peters, and he holds no doctorate degree of any kind. The man we've all admired for his diligence in restoring Hot Mont audio works is now in a state of destitution, virtually living in a tool shed behind a Lowville,Pa department store. Many of us wondered what had happened to the long-promised recordings. Apparently, the Everhard Pencil Company near Latrobe, Pa shut it's doors in late 2002, leaving Peters with no work, no home & no place to run his "audio restoration lab". He bounced around western Pennsylvania for the next year or so, performing a bang-up Elvis impersonation at karaoke bars & finally landing a shelf-stocking job at the new Shattco Superstore not far outside of Erie, Pa. (picture to left shows DuFwinque impersonating Elvis at the local Patty O'Malligan's Irish Pizza Bar in Colt Station. This is one of his techniques for raising donations through tips)

Peters has been soliciting donations through religious & other organizations, and panhandling to try to keep his restoration dream alive, but has had very little luck so far. Recently, the venerable HMS2000 Society (a non-profit group that works to preserve the works of Hot Mont and other now-obscure artists) was able to raise enough money to retrieve some of the electronic gear through a modest payment to the ex-owner of the Everhard Pencil Company.

This gear was recently set up in Peters' tool shed behind Shattco, in the hopes that he will be able to continue his work now that the warm weather is upon us. As a long-time follower, fan & chronicler of Hot Mont, my vote is that we give Peters a chance to redeem himself. This music needs to be restored regardless of the personal issues that Peters may be dealing with. Most of us would probably even be willing to refer to him once again as Dr. DuFwinque. (sort of a honorary degree much as celebrities are sometimes given). This may encourage this downtrodden person to lift himself back up and get to work again on the restoration! As a somewhat quirky but basically honest  individual, DuFwinque would most surely be more resilient if he believes that we still believe.

Bill Del Rumple 7-9-04

(just a footnote: one of DuFwinque's recent Elvis tribute  performances was attended by none other than Wyan Lantz, the producer of most of  Hot Mont's biggest selling records.)