The Man in the Technicolor Suit

I think this guy is great.

Meet the man in the Technicolor suit

By Colleen Mastony , Chicago Tribune
Sunday, June 29, 2008

CHICAGO - As the tour boat approaches, the man standing on Chicago's State Street Bridge launches into his signature dance, spinning to the left, then spinning to the right. He's wearing a bright pink suit and, as the tour boat passes on the river, he whips off his jacket and waves it around his head.

"Say hello to Suit Man!" bellows the boat tour guide, as the crowd erupts in applause and cheers. "You'll never see him in the same suit twice!"

Meet Vincent Falk, otherwise known as Suit Man, Fashion Man or even Riverace (a play on Liberace) for the hundreds of dazzling suits - glittery gold, lime green, cherry red, powder pink - that he wears with unmistakable delight.

Legally blind since birth, Falk works by day as a computer programmer for Cook County, Ill. But in the evenings, you'll find him on the bridges. And at 10:30 p.m., Falk can usually be spotted in the final scene of the WLS-Ch. 7 news broadcast. As the camera pans to the crowd outside the State Street studio window, there's Falk spinning in all his fluorescent glory.

"My philosophy in life is to make people happy," says Falk, 58, who lives alone in Marina Towers and has no family. His closest relative, a foster mother, died a few years ago. Yet on the sidewalks of the city, Falk has found a place and a purpose. "If I can get people to giggle and laugh, that makes me happy."

With this simple ideology, Falk has developed a loyal following. On the bridge, a speed-walking woman in workout gear calls out: "Hey, Vince! Nice suit today!" A moment later a man, dressed in camouflage pants and a baseball cap, stops to shake Falk's hand. "You always bring a smile to our faces," he says. Down on the river, another boat passes, and the tour guide calls out, "Give it up for Fashion Man!"

Born with glaucoma, Falk was abandoned as an infant. They called him Vincent because - according to family lore - he had been found on the steps of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Lincoln Park, Ill. He went to live at St. Joseph's Home for the Friendless, then an orphanage on the South Side. When he was 8 years old, Mary and Clarence Falk, a couple from Roselle, adopted him.

It was around the time of his mother's death that Falk started waving at the boats. When the boats honked, it gave Falk a little lift. And soon the boat drivers found they were looking forward to seeing Falk too.

( Read more  )

Guess Who I Am

( answer )

(no subject)

  This was a tasty little surprise I picked up Sunday night.
Francis Coppola Zinfandel Diamond '06. Pretty tasty. Nice earthy, berry, strong, but not too tannic.

Nice. Num Yummy