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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2013)
6 Street roots Sept. 13, 2013 Art with Heart Walk! Thursday, September 5, 2013 Please join us and other nearby agencies that serve the community's most at-risk men, women and children in a celebration of artistic expression! Finding strength — inside and out BY ANN -D ERRICK GAILLOT C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R Stop by our gallery space at 33 NW Broadway and we'll, provide a map of all 7+ locations. t was easy to pick out Lorry Clark when I went to meet him at his old selling spot at Northwest 11th Avenue and Lovejoy Street. A tall man with an easy posture and a big smile, Lorry could look down on the tops of the heads of most of the people who wordlessly passed him by as he greeted them that day. “I’m all smiles and I try to be genuine,” he says. As we sit and talk I ask Lorry the usual questions as he answers in his thick, New York accent. He was born and raised in Syracuse, and has been selling Street Roots in Portland for three months, he says. But soon our conversation turns to Lorry’s real passion: keeping healthy and I Lorry Clark and Jefferson Street, Lorry also has a new his calves, large and chiseled. I can see he was not exaggerating. spot the People’s Co-Op at Southeast 21st Avenue and Tibbetts where he has become Despite the great care and pride Lorry popular with the regulars. takes in his body, he must still struggle Perception versus reality is something with the effects of sleeping only a couple of hours at a time each night when he must that is at the forefront of Lorry’s mind be vigilant against violence on the streets. when he’s selling. There are good days Lorry has seen much violence over his when Lorry gets the same smiles he gives lifetime, he says, and has had to adapt to in return, when he makes enough money to survive. buy healthful foods, when he meets a new “I’m a boy named Lorry. I learned to friend or has a good conversation with a fight at a young age,” he tells me with a kind stranger. However, there are bad days laugh. As he sees it, MMA is a positive too, he says, when he spends all day outlet in which he can be successful receiving the glares and sneers from physically, spiritually, and financially. When passersby, when he does not make any his savings permit, he hopes to join a local money at all. Through it all he remains gym and train with a professional coach. upbeat, focused and kind. “My biggest Part of Lorry’s plan for success includes concern is that people know I’m not doing getting back into the service industry, this for fun, I’m not doing this because I’m where his people skills and natural charm unemployable, I’m doing this so I can get a are a valuable asset. > job,” he says. “I don’t enjoy waking up “I waited tables 11 years, from coast to every morning putting blisters on my feet coast,” he tells me with one of his so I can try to make a dollar. I’m trying to trademark smiles. But before he can be get back to the real world. And the thing is considered for such a job, Lorry must first you can help people. You can go out and save up enough money for his food help your fellow man. Isn’t that what handlers permit, a bus pass and work America’s about?” clothes. “People don’t understand. I’m not Before we shake hands and depart, selling for drug money. I’m not an alcoholic, Lorry leaves me with one of his trademark but people look at you like you are ... I do adages, “There’s an old saying out East, this so I can accomplish something.” respect all and fear none. I’ll give people In addition to splitting his time between respect, but I’m not scared of anybody,” he his spots at Northwest 11th Avenue and tells me, and then laughs. “Except my Lovejoy Street and Northwest 10th Avenue mom!” ♦ T r a n c it io It 11 €31 8 J J w J D 1 o i I W I “ tu i 1- # c Ito H ü Vendors are regular contributors to Street Roots content, as columnists, poets and artists. Look for your favorite vendor's writings in each edition o f the paper. Answers to puzzles on page 15 s 3 i s O i 3 3 a 0 3 N 0 s 0 3 a V IAI O H O 3 1 1 1“ H S V a a V A O O o 0 n A a a N 1 1 3 V 3 □ I S N 3 0 1 3 H O X V O N V S a 1 1 V a o 1 a 3 n V 1 L 2 8 6 9 8 L 9 2 8 L 8 p 9 6 9 2 t7 L 9 9 l- 8 8 6 1 H N O 0 IAI V IAI n A V IAI N a n 3 3 N 1 1 V Al 3 1 Al ■ ■ ■ ■? a ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 0 3 3 i IAI 3 d 3 V 3 1 1 V H O a IAI V S y O a 3 N a V 3 a 1 a a 3 A O a 3 8 6 L 8 L 9 8 9 8 2 p 6 9 L 2 l. 9 s 0 a d 9 9 2 z 6 L 8 8 t7 9 2 8 9 6 9 p L 9 8 L 8 L 6 8 L 2 n L r 8 6 2 8 9 p 9 S fit, and training for Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, a full-contact fighting sport. For the past four months he has committed himself to eating clean, no sugar, no white bread when he can, and drinking a lot of water, so that his body can be in top condition when he is finally able to train and compete. After he pays for his prepaid phone, the rest of the money Lorry earns from Street Roots goes to buying fresh, nutrient-rich foods that often are not available at feeds around town. “You need lean protein,” he says. “You need complex carbs to take care of yourself while you’re out here.” Lorry gets creative, too, when it comes to his physicaltraining. Carrying his 75-poUnd backpack around town helps him strengthen his core, he says. The six-plus miles he walks every day with the pack helps him with his endurance and stamina. After our interview he shows me his one of VENDOR WORK ADS A helping hand, inside or out, reasonable rates. Larry Montgomery. 503-875-6487 Dog walker; House cleaner; Care giver. Dog lover who is honest, sober and reliable. Rate: Private treaty. Eileen V. (message) 503-228-5657 Need a worker? Can do almost anything, light or heavy. References supplied. $10 an hour, four-hour min. Ask for Cassidy Morse, 503-228-5657 (SR office), or 503- 875-6504 (cell).
