I really hate it when well known people pass-away, and suddenly every Tom, Dick, and Harry comes out of the woodwork claiming to have had some long love affair with the recently deceased and/or his or her work, that for whatever reason was completely unknown until the person passed away and it became cool to have been a fan. So I will spare you any BS stories of how I had some sort of special connection to or personal interest in Mr Butch beyond what I really had. What I can tell you, is that I remember the first time I came across him while waiting for the T at Comm and Harvard Ave a couple of summers ago. As he ambled towards me, dreadlocks, bag, black jeans and leather jacket (it was about 85 degrees), he seemed every bit the crazy person that I had become used to seeing (and avoiding contact with) in the area in the past. As he got closer and stopped to strike up some conversation with other strangers, I relaxed a bit and realized that he wasn’t your garden variety crazy homeless guy – he seemed like a genuinely cool cat.
Police say he was drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon about 11 a.m. while attempting to direct traffic as he helped an elderly woman cross the street. He was also seen dancing in the road and playing air guitar, said Officer Michael McCarthy, a Boston Police Department spokesman. Mr. Butch bragged to police that he hadn’t bathed in a year, said McCarthy.
From then on, I definitely took extra notice of him each time I was over in that area and appreciated what he brought to what was already one of my favorite enclaves in the city.
Mr Butch passed away this past week, and thought I can’t claim to have been anything more than a casual observer of the man, I will miss seeing him patrolling the intersection of Harvard and Comm, and as a result, the city will be a bit less interesting.