Brief by Central Staff
Local History – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Eleanor Perry Herrington, author of several books about Tin Cup and Taylor Park, and an occasional contributor to Colorado Central, died on March 11 in Denver. She was 88.
Originally from Vermont, she and her first husband, Maurice Perry, moved to Denver in 1943. In the fall of 1951, they used their home as a down payment on the primitive Tin Cup resort in the old mining camp — a dozen cabins without electricity, running water, or telephones — and moved there with their two sons.
Maurice wanted the place, but Eleanor "e;was not in favor of this; I was sure I’d reached the end of the world and would die there with no one around to attend my funeral.” Maurice died of cancer that December, but Eleanor kept the resort, making improvements until she sold it in 1959.
She became fairly well-known in Colorado during those years, as popular Denver radio personality Pete Smythe claimed to broadcast from “East Tin Cup,” which made people curious about the other Tin Cup.
After selling the resort, she moved to Denver, and then Kansas, before returning to Colorado in 1982. She had collected considerable Tin Cup lore and pictures, and her sister urged her to write a book, which came out as I Remember Tin Cup in 1986. While researching, she interviewed former Tin Cup resident Dan Harrington. They married and moved to Buena Vista in 1987.
She wrote two more books, Colorado’s Shangri-La about Taylor Park, and How Ricky Saved Christmas, a children’s story. She also wrote for many magazines. Her contributions to this one included an article about Tin Cup’s cemetery (October, 1996) , which she helped to restore, and a retelling of the legend of the Angel of Shavano (December, 2004). Martha interviewed her and wrote a profile: link.
A memorial service was held March 15 in Denver, and one is planned for Taylor Park this summer.
Eleanor was a conscientious researcher and a great story-teller with a wonderful sense of humor. We will miss her, as will many others.
