Academic

Homeless customer memorialized by chair at Starbucks

Employees and patrons of Starbucks left mementos and prayers in honor of Fleming Taylor, a homeless man who frequently sat in this chair.

Photo from the Journal News in Westchester, N.Y.

Nearly every day during the past year, Fleming Taylor walked into the Starbucks on Main Street in Nyack, New York, as the doors opened, sat in the same purple velvet chair, read and discussed what was in The Wall Street Journal with other regulars, and left only when the store closed in the evening.

Now the purple chair where he sat is cordoned off with black ribbon and filled with bouquets and notes announcing his death.

Taylor apparently died where he lived, in a stairwell near the store. Starbucks employees and acquaintances identified his body. He was 62.

"He really was just a quiet guy," said Jonas Black, a wise-beyond-his-years 14-year-old. "It's interesting that lots of people care about someone like him. People like this in different cities just slip beneath the radar, and nobody knows about them. It's nice that in Nyack, everybody is treated as part of a big community family."

Read the USA Today story here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on November 30, 2008 (boomark / email).