Pia Schachter, a punk back in the day and a photographer’s rep now, called Butch a long-time friend — one she once lived with on Mission Hill. “He had a heart of gold. He was a sage and mentor,” she said. “When I needed a mantra or word of advice, I’d go to him. Except recently. His brain became addled. He had to cut his dreadlocks because he had a bad case of lice, and he said to me, ‘I’m not gonna make it. It was like cutting off my soul.’ He kind of knew he was on his last legs the past two years.”
On the above video posted provided by MrButchShow.com, Mr. Butch says, in a single breath: “You got to be articulate. Do it every day and keep going on strong and straight and use all your heart and all your might and all your weight and all your power . . . ’cause once you’re dead you’re done, you don’t come back. Yeah!”
Plans for Mr. Butch’s memorial event have been something of a moving target all week. The word at press time was for Butch’s extended community to gather at Comm Ave and Harvard at 6:30 pm on Sunday, July 22, for a New Orleans–style funerary parade at 7 pm, followed by an 8 pm service at the ICC Church (557 Cambridge Street). Mr. Butch’s family will attend.
We’ve also learned that the recently re-opened O’Brien’s (3 Harvard Avenue, Allston) will host fundraising tribute shows in Butch’s memory on Friday and Saturday, July 20 and 21.
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