Don and Harriet Chapman

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Current revision as of 01:04, 18 August 2025

Not to be confused with Donnie Chapman.

Strong Dad manning the Harmless Junk, Inc. booth at a convention.

Donald "Don" Chapman (June 5, 1939 – April 15, 2006) and Harriet Chapman are the parents of Homestar Runner creative duo Mike and Matt Chapman.

Don was a certified public accountant; though he had retired by the launch of homestarrunner.com, he helped the Brothers Chaps establish and run the business aspects of Homestar Runner. The earliest distribution of store merchandise was done out of the Chapman parents' basement; even after the Brothers Chaps shifted to using a dedicated distribution company, their parents still assisted by managing the Homestar Runner booth at some comic conventions.

Don, a Catholic, and Harriet, a Methodist, expressed pride for their children's work and the humor on the site, opining that clean humor is better and lasts longer. According to Don, "They were raised in a religious family and have stock in good moral values, but that hasn't stopped them from being uproarious." He expressed confidence that the success of Homestar Runner would last as long as the brothers keep their style while also keeping up with their culture.

[edit] Personal Life

The Brothers Chaps are the two youngest of Don and Harriet's five children, after Donnie, Julie, and Karen.

A native of Indiana, and graduate of Indiana University, Don moved the Chapman family from Indianapolis to Atlanta, Georgia in 1980.

Don passed away at his home on Saturday, April 15, 2006. He was 66. In his obituary, the family remembered him as "the heart and soul of homestarrunner.com".

[edit] Fun Facts

• Nicknames "Strong Dad" and "The Mother Chaps" were applied to Don and Harriet on occasion. These are humorous derivatives of the names "Strong Bad/Sad/Mad" and "The Brothers Chaps".
• Marshmallow's Last Stand was removed from the website in 2001, as the Brothers Chaps were dissatisfied with its quality. It was brought back online after several requests from Don, as cheekily acknowledged in a faux disclaimer added to the start of the cartoon.
  • The toon was later removed again, this time for an undisclosed personal reason.
• Paul and Storm first got in touch with the Brothers Chaps by finding Don's contact information attached to the registration of homestarrunner.com.
• Homestar Runner's exhortation of "kick it out, Beehan" in the Strong Bad Email mile is quoting the way Harriet would cheer for Beehan, a childhood friend of Donnie, as he ran at the school track.
• Don and Harriet were interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2003 for an article about Homestar Runner. Don was interviewed again in 2004 by The Daily Eastern News.
• The Chapman parents can be briefly seen visiting their sons' office (along with relatives Jim and Rosie) in the DVD extra Making of Email 100.

[edit] External Links

• Don Chapman's obituary (archived)