Age: 40
Occupation: Contractor
Apartment: 4 rooms, enclosed porch, $775 a month
Location: Bucktown
Not pictured: A dented mailbox containing a crumpled letter from his former landlord informing him that after 12 years their rental agreement has been terminated, because the building has been sold.
Anything else from the old place? “I stole the kitchen sink.”
Where is it now? “In the kitchen.”
The rest of the story: “We were sitting outside when the house was demolished. The whole place was gone except for the front wall, the door, and the mailbox. We saw the mailman walkin’ down the street and said, ‘Hey, Tim, you want to deliver the mail one more time?’ Two seconds after he put it in the box, a steam shovel smashed it all down.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Lloyd DeGrane.