What is still left is several thousand dollars in uninsured expenses from the medical crisis period last year. This is where the local music community, across several generations, has responded by volunteering to participate in the "Larrypalooza" benefit concert.
Larry Howes
This one is personal.
I came of age during the punk generation of the late 1970s. Although I embraced the ethos and zeitgeist of that age, I certainly wasn't the one of the most notable examples.
That sort of honor was reserved for people such as Larry Howes, a true punk fan and progenitor of some of the coolest dancing you'll ever see. Although I never knew Larry that well, I have long admired his fearless DIY approach to life via his dancing. And since we are from the same generation, yes, this is personal.
If you've been out to certain shows at local clubs over the years, you've probably seen Howes, who is popularly known as "Dancing Larry." In fact, of you were at these shows, you could hardly have missed him: With a shaved head and a singular herky-jerky style of personal choreography, Larry would take the dance floor whether or not anyone else was dancing.
Until last year, that is.
In November, Larry was undergoing surgery to alleviate a condition he has known as pseudotumor cerebri. I will let Larry describe it:
"It happens when there's excessive spinal fluid pressure in the brain. In my case, it was caused by a blood clot in a sinus that the spinal fluid normally uses to exit the brain," he said. “With that blood clot acting as a dam of sorts, the spinal fluid gets backed up and starts pushing at all the available tissue searching for an alternative route out.”
Unfortunately, the fluid pressed against Larry's optic nerve. And once this nerve tissue is damaged, it does not heal.
“As a result, I have pretty much entirely lost the sight in my left eye, and there has been significant impairment of my right,” he said.
The surgery, however, created a scary, but temporary, problem with Larry's brain. After spending days in and ICUs and being checked out by various specialists, he has now fully recovered from the brain issue, but the optic nerve damage is permanent, and it remains possible that further flare-ups could cost him what's left of the vision in his right eye.
Since his work has been at a job requiring extensive detailed, precision reading of often old or poorly reproduced documents, his career is over. Fortunately, he just received notification from Social Security that his application for disability insurance has been approved.
But what is still left is several thousand dollars in uninsured expenses from the medical crisis period last year. This is where the local music community, across several generations, has responded by volunteering to participate in the "Larrypalooza" benefit concert that musicians Scott Swan and Steve Bolduc set up. The show is on April 6 at The Elevens in Northampton. For tickets, mail a check or money order ($10 for each ticket ordered) made out to The Dancing Larry Health and Welfare Fund, addressed to Larry Howes, 151 Cheyenne Rd. Springfield, MA 01109.
"It leaves me speechless," Larry said of the benefit show. “I've gotten used to the idea enough that it doesn't make me all teary-eyed now to think about it, though I might spend much of the night itself bawling helplessly. I certainly didn't expect anything like this. I don't know if, when or how much I'll ever be out on the local scene again, after it's been such a big part of my life for so long, so I want to make the most of this one which is all mine, courtesy of a lifetime of friends."
So come on out for this bash. It should be great night. But, one more question before we leave: How did "Dancing Larry" originate?
"That goes back to my late teens, and being really shy, " he said. “I loved being near live music, but I never knew what to do with myself in the social aspect of being at a club or show. I discovered if I was dancing, I didn't have to deal with any of that. After a while I started to see dancing as a great form of exercise, and in my 20s and 30s, when I was regularly out to see music two or three nights a week, it really did become a pretty decent workout routine. I even developed a few dance moves that are distinctively mine."
Yes, you did, Larry. Thank you for that.
Here's the scheduled lineup for the show:
7 p.m. Jim Joe's Sixty-One Ramblers
7:25 Pruf
7:50 The Remones
8:15 The Howards
8:40 Dennis Most
9:05 Donut Kings
9:30 Gimlet Slip
9:55 No Intention
10:25 The Prozacs
10:55 Creepin' Cadavers
11:25 The Uncomfortables
12 a.m. Angry Johnny & the Killbillies
12:40 Steve Westfield Slow Band