
Lars Hansen atop the Peking at the South Street Seaport in 1991.
I just read that Lars Hansen died the day before yesterday in a nursing home in Florida. He was 86. For three decades he had been the master rigger of the historic vessels of the South Street Seaport until he suffered a stroke a few years ago and had to retire.
When profiled in the New York Times two years ago, the author wrote that ”Mr. Hansen reigned for 30 years as king of the still-gritty side of the seaport. … In the collective imagination of the seaport’s salts, Mr. Hansen is a Paul Bunyan of the sea. They speak of his strength in terms like “gentle giant,” and of his kindness in phrases typically reserved for the canonization process.”