Earlier this month, Walter Keuhr of the Main Squeeze accordion shop on Essex Street died of cancer. This past weekend, friends gathered inside the store for a sale meant to raise a bit of cash for his funeral and to shut down the business, a neighborhood fixture for 20 years. But all did not go according to plan. The Village Voice reports that a guy who wandered into the shop and stole $650. An organizer, Marianne DeMarco, went on Craigslist with a message for the heartless thief:
**FOR THE PERSON WHO PICKED THIS UP AND STOLE ALL THE CASH WE RAISED TODAY.. ..YOU ARE PROBABLY THE CRUELEST PERSON I EVER MET. THAT WAS TO RAISE MONEY FOR A FREAKING FUNERAL FOR THE GUY THAT OWNED ALL THAT STUFF WE GAVE YOU. HELL, WE EVEN GAVE YOU SOME OF OUR CAKE! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE A NICE GUY!… UNLESS YOU STOLE THAT MONEY TO GIVE TO A PEDIATRIC BURN UNIT, I HONESTLY HOPE YOU CONTRACT AN INCURABLE SCROTAL FUNGUS. OH YEAH, BY THE WAY… REMEMBER HOW YOU BRAGGED ABOUT HOW YOU’RE 59 BUT COULD STILL LUG HEAVY STUFF? GUESS HOW OLD OUR FRIEND WAS WHEN HE DIED LAST FRIDAY. YEP, 59. I SURE DO HOPE YOU’RE NEXT, PAL.
You can read the whole story here. On a more uplifting note, NPR produced a nice piece on Walter over the weekend. Have a listen.
