Post by Beej on Dec 15, 2004 14:28:23 GMT -5
Don't know if this has been posted before, but it's the first time I've come across this article...
"Low Notes for David Ruffin" - (Detroit Free Press, May 26, 1988)
Excerpts:
"Last Thursday, his name was not in the limelight, but in the court records when he was convicted of using crack cocaine. He faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail. He is in a drug treatment clinic now, awaiting sentencing Tuesday.
"Ruffin, 47, has lived in a mobile home owned by a friend in rural Green Oak Township near South Lyon. It's parked behind an unfinished house/horse barn; parked nearby is the skeleton of an old, round Cadillac. Like Ruffin, it has seen better days."
"Ruffin said in court last week the only money he had was what was in his pocket, money left over from a weekend performance in North Carolina. His indigence qualified him for a state-paid attorney."
"Earline Ruffin said she rarely hears from David.
"'I've been praying hard for him to come back to life,' she says. 'Tell him to call me if you see him. I just want to talk to him face to face. I want to tell him to look up instead of down. If he would just go right, he would be a famous man some day.'"
This is nearly a year after the "Dancing In The Street" tour. He looked awful then, but he still had that golden voice.
I was cleaning out my closet a couple weeks ago and came across a lot of high school and college mementos. It reminded me that my high school graduation ceremony took place Saturday, June 1, 1991. I couldn't help but think...the same day my life was really just beginning, Ruff's had come to an end. It's pretty sad when you get right down to it. So much talent...
"Low Notes for David Ruffin" - (Detroit Free Press, May 26, 1988)
Excerpts:
"Last Thursday, his name was not in the limelight, but in the court records when he was convicted of using crack cocaine. He faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail. He is in a drug treatment clinic now, awaiting sentencing Tuesday.
"Ruffin, 47, has lived in a mobile home owned by a friend in rural Green Oak Township near South Lyon. It's parked behind an unfinished house/horse barn; parked nearby is the skeleton of an old, round Cadillac. Like Ruffin, it has seen better days."
"Ruffin said in court last week the only money he had was what was in his pocket, money left over from a weekend performance in North Carolina. His indigence qualified him for a state-paid attorney."
"Earline Ruffin said she rarely hears from David.
"'I've been praying hard for him to come back to life,' she says. 'Tell him to call me if you see him. I just want to talk to him face to face. I want to tell him to look up instead of down. If he would just go right, he would be a famous man some day.'"
This is nearly a year after the "Dancing In The Street" tour. He looked awful then, but he still had that golden voice.
I was cleaning out my closet a couple weeks ago and came across a lot of high school and college mementos. It reminded me that my high school graduation ceremony took place Saturday, June 1, 1991. I couldn't help but think...the same day my life was really just beginning, Ruff's had come to an end. It's pretty sad when you get right down to it. So much talent...
These days, I get the occasional "David Spade" reference...which is unflattering on SO MANY levels.
