Richard (Plug) MacPherson 1955-2010
Yesterday we buried a kid from the neighborhood, a classmate, and a guy who many of us knew growing up. To those of us who knew him the longest he was Plug... In the early Seventies it mutated into Plughead. To me he remained Plughead to the day he died, February 1, 2010.
I didn't see him much after 1973, although I recently became reacquainted, of sorts, with Plughead. I'd meet him walking up and down Okiola Avenue on my frequent visits to my Mom and Dad's house in Boothwyn. When I was battling cancer about ten years ago, my Mom would call me and say, " I saw Plug today when I was at the firehouse getting my lottery tickets, He was asking for you, and he said he was praying for you". Even though I'm sure Plug was no more religious than I am, the thought touched me.
Sure I would see him here and there around Boothwyn over the past 30 years, but it wasn't until the last year and a half, I took the time to stop and really talk to him again. It was part like talking to Dickie, the kid down the street, part like talking to Plug, the kid from my Mickey Veron Little League team (Summit Beef), and part like talking to Plughead... That guy from Chi who became somewhat of a stoner legend... Oh yeah, Plug, Fred Evans and I all worked on the Upper Chi trash trucks for a while in the mid-Seventies... Wow, how could I leave that little gem of our history out of this narrative?
The last few times I talked to Plug, he was centered, good humored, concerned for people he once knew, always pleasant with my Mom and Dad on his daily strolls up and down Okilola Avenue, and always true to his quirky personality. When I told him that the other guys from Boggie Hollin (and others) were all down in the St Augustine / Ameilia Island area of Florida, he said, " What are they starting some kinda cult down there... what's going on man?". He was still the "Spaceman" character Jay MacPherson and I cast in our senior movie project at Chi "2001... A Camping Odyssey". He was still the "dude" you gave a ride home at 3 a.m. from Devereux's in Linwood (sorry for that flashback)... but he wasn't the cat I small-talked to when I ran in to him at the Super Fresh in the 90's... He was more like Dickie, the kid down the street. But, to me he will always be the guy my kids refer to as Plughead. To this day, they still tell their friends, " Hey, back in the Seventies, my Dad had a friend named Plughead... Isn't that wild!" RIP
Thom
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Thom, greetings..i am now one of your followers.i started a blog of my own today..give yourself the credit..i saw yours with this tribute to plug awhile back,and every now and then i check your blog out.very nice words for the guy we all knew as plug.i think your words would have touched him,they do me.thanks for showing up back into my life after all these years.how time flies right.now we enjoy our kids lives and do our very best to help,guide,encourage,and especially love them,just hoping for them to be happy and have it a little bit better than ours.i'm 1 up on you,because now i have grandkids.the word BLESSED has a new meaning in my life today.i have alot of respect for you T,and you have a beautiful family.i also have always said hi to Reds and Polly at the firehouse and and asked about you..i'm glad us 2 kids from boothwyn have been re-connected.looking forward to the upcoming events you have going on..your friend,elm
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