Before: Three weeks ago, we published on the editor’s blog and in the print edition a photo of newspapers tucked in the long grass. It appears to be a bed for a homeless person, just steps from the Kress Building, which is home to half-million-dollar condos in downtown Durham (“30 feet separates the haves from the have nots,” Jan. 2).
After: The grass has been shorn to nubs; the bed is gone and the area is exposed to the elements. Nearby bushes had been trimmed back as well. The shearing may be routine park maintenance, but the result is someone has been rustled from his or her home.
Before: In mid-December, I met a man whose stage name is C. View playing a cardboard guitar and collecting money and food at the corner of Main and Market streets in downtown Durham. His dream was to get a real guitar.
After: Last week, C, which stands for Casper, told me someone in the neighborhood had given him a second-hand guitar. On the back, C has written “Praise God. Thank you Jesus.” He spent time in jail, where he says he found God.
He knows only a blues lick or two right now, but he’s intent on learning more. Casper is pictured here with his dog, Leela.
“I used to be a rapper,” he told me about the origin of his stage name. “I would just show up, like a ghost. Casper the Friendly Ghost.
“And I like to express my views, so I took the name C View. My first album would be Enjoy the View.”
This article appeared in print with the headline “this is how the story ends.”
