Harold Parichan dies at 92; attorney, almond farmer fought California bullet train project

By Ralph Vartabedian in the LA Times

January 3, 2016

Harold Parichan spent sleepless nights worrying about the California bullet train.

Over dinners with his daughter and sons, he would ponder the fate of his prized almond orchards in Madera County, which would be sliced diagonally by the future tracks.

Disabled since polio struck him in the 1920s, Parichan overcame many obstacles, attending UC Berkeley and Stanford University law school on crutches and braces. But the bullet train became one of the biggest emotional challenges in his life, and time was running out for the 92-year-old farmer.

Parichan died Wednesday in Fresno after a bout with the flu, leaving his fight to keep the train off his farm unfinished.

Sue Parichan Habild, who worked with her father for decades, vowed that the family would continue his fight.

Read more at the LA Times