Sunday, November 23, 2008
A Cigarette for Shorty ...
The parks department worker asked for a cigarette . A woman near her flipped open a green and white pack of menthols and pushed one out for the worker to take . She took the cigarette saying that " this one's for Shorty and if anyone takes it they answer to me " and placed it , carefully inserting it in the center of a bundle of flowers , in the major feature of the memorial for Shorty in Tompkins Square Park on this last cold November Friday afternoon .
Shorty , a TSP regular for many years , especially around the chess tables , died a week earlier reportedly of a heart attack at his home . We do not know his name , other than Shorty ; nor did anyone else that we talked to . We knew him for several years though not well . We do not know his age . We have no picture of him to display ; if we find one we will insert it in this post .
The wind repeatedly extinguished the memorial candles on this sunny bright and cold afternoon as a group of mourners of perhaps two dozen stood recounting short remembrances of Shorty . The mourners were later lead in a prayer by members of one of the Christian charities that provides free food and clothing regularly in TSP .
After the prayer we talked some with those who had known Shorty and then left the park .
An hour or so later we returned to TSP to watch one of the Red Tailed Hawks hunting . As we passed by the memorial at the chess tables we noticed that someone had taken the cigarette .
Comments:
<< Home
Dear Bob,
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead.--
Boris
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead.--
Boris
# posted by 
: 12:40 AM
: 12:40 AM
Dear Bob,
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead.--
Boris
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead.--
Boris
Dear Bob,
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead--
Boris
First of all, thanks for doing a great job reporting on LES. I knew Shorty from the chess tables and can say he was a very sweet guy but with a temper, and that he would get into fights from time to time in the park. He had short hair, sideburns and always a goatee. He would lend his chess pieces out to people and he was always riding his bike places. God bless the dead--
Boris
Man, sad. These stories always get me down - I'm in TSP all the time, have my own bench. I see and talk to the same people, have for years, like old friends, but never really knowing each other. I have names for them, but who are they, where do they live, where do they come from? Then one day, someone disappears or dies. That's it. You see a memorial and you remember the guy, but who was he?
I've been photographing a particular neighborhood character from a distance for over eight years. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got up the nerve to approach and talk to him. I took his portrait and spent the next 3 hours listening to his life story...it figures my damn camera was stolen as he spilled his secrets. Someone out there somewhere has that fantastic portrait. I returned the next day to ask about my camera and the guy didn't recognize me at all. He just said, "Hey, you have a nice coat." My heart sank. Strangers once again.
Post a Comment
I've been photographing a particular neighborhood character from a distance for over eight years. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got up the nerve to approach and talk to him. I took his portrait and spent the next 3 hours listening to his life story...it figures my damn camera was stolen as he spilled his secrets. Someone out there somewhere has that fantastic portrait. I returned the next day to ask about my camera and the guy didn't recognize me at all. He just said, "Hey, you have a nice coat." My heart sank. Strangers once again.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]