.N. Duncan, Telegraph Avenue fixture dies at age 65
By Kristin Bender
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 07/06/2009 04:56:31 PM PDT
Updated: 07/07/2009 06:48:03 AM PDT
BERKELEY — Out in front of the now-closed
but still iconic Cody’s bookstore on Telegraph
Avenue, a couple dozen people gathered Sunday
to remember another Telegraph Avenue icon:
B.N. Duncan.
His buddy, Mike "Moby" Theobald, walked
around with a video camera asking people to
"do a Duncan." This request spawned impressions
of their late friend’s deep gravely voice and
stammering delivery, a bit like Jimmy Stewart.
They imitated his gesticulating hands, and the
way he always told people who stopped by the
table where he sold his drawings, photos and comics to
"feel free to look at anything you like"
and "drop a little money in the cup."
For 15 years, until 2004,
Duncan and Ace Backwords produced
the Telegraph Street Calendar, which featured
homeless and naked people, artists and other
street denizens. Even Mayor Tom Bates was
featured in the calendar in 2004 when he spent
the night on the streets and ate in a soup kitchen
to get a feel for the homeless lifestyle.
Duncan died June 27 at an East Bay hospital,
possibly of cancer, friends said. He was 65.
The Alameda County Coroner’s office did
not have a report of his death, most likely
because he died in a hospital of natural causes,
a spokesman said Monday.
Friends said Duncan was one of a kind.
"He reminded me of a wizard with his long
beard and beaklike nose and bushy eyebrows.
All he lacked was the conical hat ….
Across his table were other local artists
and musicians (works) too shy to hawk their own wares.
Nobody called him by his first name, which he hated.
To everybody, he was simply Duncan,"
said Theobald, who knew Duncan for 17 years.
Duncan loved animals and went to a zoo monthly,
said his friend Richard Weaver, who was Duncan’s
roommate in San Leandro.
"Duncan was really into animals, especially big
apes and gorillas. He’d sit there and sketch
gorillas for four, five hours at a time,” Weaver said.
Theobald said he remembers conversations
about zoology, especially a lively discourse
about the duck-billed platypus.
In addition to his love of animals, he was a man
who loved routine. When he wasn’t at his
Telegraph Avenue table, he could be seen hauling
around his wares in a box. Day or night, rain or shine,
he had that old box. That wasn’t his only routine.
"His favorite food was two bologna sandwiches,
four deviled eggs, spaghetti and meatballs and a
small cottage cheese. He ate that meal all the time,”
Weaver said.
In addition to the street calendar, Duncan produced
a comic called "Hank and Hannah" and the comic
strip Beserkeley Blues for the Daily Gazette, friends
said. He also worked on The Tele Times between
1978 and 1982, according to an obituary about him
in the Comics Reporter. He also enjoyed photography,
especially documenting the Telegraph Avenue
and People’s Park scene.
Born in 1943 in Rochester, New York, Duncan
and his mother relocated in Berkeley. Later,
his family moved to Pasadena, where he attended
Pasadena Community College, according to
the Comics Reporter. He moved back to Berkeley in 1966.
A heavy smoker, he had been trying to quit for years.
"He’d been trying to cut down on smoking by
drawing a line on the cigarette and only smoking half of it,”
said Theobald. What’s more, his health had been
declining for the past two years, including a fractured hip
that left him hospitalized, yet he maintained his wit, Weaver said.
"I went to the hospital where they had him on a morphine
drip and he said, ‘Richard, they say I can have any drugs I want,’
" Weaver recalled. "So I asked him what he wanted, and he said,
‘Could you get me a cup of coffee?’"
Kristin Bender covers Berkeley.
Reach her at kbender@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Reach Sean Maher at smaher@bayareanewsgroup.com.
=================
Long time sober member Easy E., passed away Thursday, August 28, 2008 at the age of 95. He got sober on November 15, 1942 and remained active for
over 24,000 days. Muir "Easy" E. got his nickname playing professional pool against the likes of
Willie Mosconie and Minnesota Fats.
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