Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Flashback August 1996: A two-week tribute for Merlin

I wanted to follow-up on the Merlin's Memorial post from yesterday...



Bob Arihood, who took the shot above, documented the scene on Avenue A and Sixth Street on Neither More Nor Less after Merlin passed away on Aug. 16, 1996...



As Bob wrote:

A wake and vigil of considerable moment, lasting for the better part of 2 weeks , was held in the neighborhood at Merlin's corner . Some nights the sidewalk and street around the memorial were so densely packed with people that it seemed that everyone in the neighborhood and the surrounding communities was attending , crowded together ,all kinds of folks , from all professions and callings , from high and low paying their respects to Merlin .


Here's Merlin on his corner as many people here remember him...



Jeremiah also writes about Merlin today, asking the following: "Could such a memorial happen for a homeless man in the East Village today?"
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5 comments:

  1. JackieAugust 18, 2010 at 12:14 PM

    Between reading yours and Jeremiah's blogs about Merlin, it makes me wish I knew that kind of neighborhood, and a man like that. I'm one those lame college kids who aren't originally from the city, recently moved into the East Village, but I guess I also wanted to tell you now that reading these blogs makes me feel like part of the EV, even if most of the time I'm still outside looking in.

    But actually I wanted to point your attention to a google books link I found, because I wanted to know more about Merlin. Looks like he wrote a bit about his life. Lots of nice reflection.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=f2poGlSBM6UC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=paul+hogan+merlin&source=bl&ots=WJBKtidVA-&sig=dHeApLkZ2nfUc31QieCfZa5EhEg&hl=en&ei=MQRsTK9kgYKUB5ONvegB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=paul%20hogan%20merlin&f=false

    Sorry about the html vomit, hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 18, 2010 at 7:58 PM

    burn in hell, jackie.
    mad corny.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 18, 2010 at 8:47 PM

    don't really burn in hell, unless you deserve it. then, may the lord teach you to worry about yourself, and not homeless random person

    ReplyDelete
  4. JackieAugust 18, 2010 at 11:47 PM

    Eek... well that wasn't too nice. Ooh well. That's the internet for ya.

    ReplyDelete
  5. EV GrieveAugust 18, 2010 at 11:57 PM

    It's all good, Jackie. Thanks for the comment... and thanks for reading...

    ReplyDelete

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