Mr. Butch Dead at 56

Like many other kids who grew up in Boston, I spent a good amount of my high school years roaming around places like Copley, Kenmore, the South End, Harvard Square, and Allston, etc. It is amazing to me how much a part of the city I felt in those days, and much of that I attribute to relatively unimportant things like knowing the ins and outs of the T or being able to rattle off the 5 closest Mortal Kombat machines from any location. More than anything, though, I think it was that I knew and was known by (or at least recognized by) many people in and around town. Red and Pops at Little Stevies, the guys who worked at Captain Nemo's and the Pizza Pad, and even the token taker at Aquarium station who for some reason let us hang around for hours until kicking us out every day for sliding down those long escalators.

And then there was Mr. Butch. I remember him as a tall, lanky, dreadlocked fixture outside the Rat in Kenmore, and though apparently homeless (I think by choice), he stuck out as a kind of celebrity, a man everyone knew. "Hey, Mr. Butch", you'd call, and he'd come right over, grinning, and ask how you were. Maybe he'd crack a joke or say something you didn't understand at all, but you would smile anyway because, for some inexplicable reason, he made you feel like you were old friends.

Mr. Butch unfortunately died in an accident today (July 12) at the age of 56. Below is a short article from boston.com.

(Update 7.13.07 - there's now another, more recent article in the non-breaking-news section)

(Update 7.14.07 - a great Mr. Butch guestbook has been set up and lots of people are sharing their memories. It's amazing how many random people have fond memories of this guy...testament to his persona. He will be missed.)

Mr. Butch, the street icon, dies in a scooter accident


(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff/file)

Mr. Butch, shown above on Harvard Avenue in November, had lived on the streets in Boston for about 30 years.

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

Mr. Butch, the dreadlocked, homeless man who was an icon in Kenmore Square and Allston, was killed today in a scooter accident, friends and family said.

Boston police said there had been a fatal accident just after 7:30 a.m. on Cambridge Street in Allston, but did not release the name of the victim. Mr. Butch's sister, Jeannette Madison of Worcester, said she had been notified of her brother's death.

Mr. Butch's real name was Harold Madison Jr. The 56-year-old had been the subject of YouTube videos [as well as at least one independent film], a MySpace tribute page, and a Wikipedia entry. He was so popular that The Boston Phoenix wrote in April that it was considering changing the criteria for its "Readers' Pick: Neighborhood Character" category because Mr. Butch won so regularly.

"He's been in so many local movies, videos, in the Phoenix -- he's like an icon of the neighborhood," said Erin Scott, manager of New England Comics on Harvard Avenue in Allston.

Mr. Butch had lived on the streets of Boston for about 30 years. In Kenmore Square and his neighborhood in Allston -- areas rife with college students and people who cleave to less traditional approaches to living in Boston -- some saw in Mr. Butch a latter-day Thoreau, a man who chose a life that didn't involve taxes, rent, or office cubicles.