Thanks Joyce. Billy and I went to the same high school, The Cambridge School of Weston. At the time we were there it was school POLICY to never raise your hand, but rather to know intuitively when it was the right time to jump in and speak. I have wondered often if this exacerbated his impulse control "issues". But, man, if ever a town needed an "unfiltered" enthusiast, it was Boston. I loved him just the way he was but yes it was hard.
I was in the single next to his room senior year. He would often play jazz and (air) conduct the music. I saw/interacted with him a handful of times when I lived in Boston. When I attended a showing of "Decline of Western Civilization" in a theatre, there was someone loudly offering commentary throughout the film. I found out it was Billy in the lobby.
Hi Joyce, this is a really spot on piece. And yeah I went to other towns and clubs and people always asked me about Billy… legend. Wish I could be at the premiere tonight… keep well all… Andrew Burns
This is a beautiful tribute. Thanks for writing it. I didn’t know Billy, but I saw him out and about a bit, many years ago, and so many of my friends knew him. A legend.
I didn't know Billy as intimately as some, but I knew him well enough. Working at Typotech (the punk rock print/copy place near Harvard Square) brought me into contact with just about anyone who was in a band, booked bands, or went to see bands in Boston/Cambridge in the 1990s. It was a special place and I always enjoyed Billy's many visits, where he would ask us to make show flyers, tickets, or sometimes stranger and more esoteric stuff. He was always generous, mercurial, energetic, and clearly troubled in ways I couldn't, at that point in my life, fully grasp. There were a lot of characters around town in those days, and age is giving me the perspective to see them as the imperfect, fully-but-oddly-formed people they were. That was a time in my life that was deeply formative for me, and Billy Ruane was part of it.
Joyce, This piece is spot on, brilliant and captures how I felt about Billy, and I’m guessing many more.
What a time it was…
Billy surprised me once with his sloppy wet ones…Following that when I would see him, I’d catch his eye put my index finger in front of my mouth and give him the no-no finger wag. Thank you
Smart? Oh yeah. A dumbass? Absolutely sometimes. Wonderful and also infuriating. Looking at movies with him? The greatest. Shopping for No Doz with him? Lunacy. A perfect Billy moment? He was compelled to listen to an Al Green Live in Tokoyo cassette and dance around when we were already late for Trey Helliwell's funeral. This came after a delay where he disappeared and came back with a pair of new socks, as though that would make his disheveled appearance respectable. We made it just in time. Miss that guy.
This a great tribute, thanks for writing this.
And I'm sorry I didn't share with more people the way I would avoid those disgusting kisses, I would preemptively grab him by the ears and kiss his increasingly grizzled cheeks and so I never got one on the lips like others suffered.
Thanks Joyce. Billy and I went to the same high school, The Cambridge School of Weston. At the time we were there it was school POLICY to never raise your hand, but rather to know intuitively when it was the right time to jump in and speak. I have wondered often if this exacerbated his impulse control "issues". But, man, if ever a town needed an "unfiltered" enthusiast, it was Boston. I loved him just the way he was but yes it was hard.
I was in the single next to his room senior year. He would often play jazz and (air) conduct the music. I saw/interacted with him a handful of times when I lived in Boston. When I attended a showing of "Decline of Western Civilization" in a theatre, there was someone loudly offering commentary throughout the film. I found out it was Billy in the lobby.
Correction: It wasn't Decline... but the X documentary in the late '80s.
Hi Joyce, this is a really spot on piece. And yeah I went to other towns and clubs and people always asked me about Billy… legend. Wish I could be at the premiere tonight… keep well all… Andrew Burns
Thanks Andrew. Hope you are well.
This is a beautiful tribute. Thanks for writing it. I didn’t know Billy, but I saw him out and about a bit, many years ago, and so many of my friends knew him. A legend.
I didn't know Billy as intimately as some, but I knew him well enough. Working at Typotech (the punk rock print/copy place near Harvard Square) brought me into contact with just about anyone who was in a band, booked bands, or went to see bands in Boston/Cambridge in the 1990s. It was a special place and I always enjoyed Billy's many visits, where he would ask us to make show flyers, tickets, or sometimes stranger and more esoteric stuff. He was always generous, mercurial, energetic, and clearly troubled in ways I couldn't, at that point in my life, fully grasp. There were a lot of characters around town in those days, and age is giving me the perspective to see them as the imperfect, fully-but-oddly-formed people they were. That was a time in my life that was deeply formative for me, and Billy Ruane was part of it.
Joyce, This piece is spot on, brilliant and captures how I felt about Billy, and I’m guessing many more.
What a time it was…
Billy surprised me once with his sloppy wet ones…Following that when I would see him, I’d catch his eye put my index finger in front of my mouth and give him the no-no finger wag. Thank you
Solid strategy. Wish I had been as smart.
Smart? Oh yeah. A dumbass? Absolutely sometimes. Wonderful and also infuriating. Looking at movies with him? The greatest. Shopping for No Doz with him? Lunacy. A perfect Billy moment? He was compelled to listen to an Al Green Live in Tokoyo cassette and dance around when we were already late for Trey Helliwell's funeral. This came after a delay where he disappeared and came back with a pair of new socks, as though that would make his disheveled appearance respectable. We made it just in time. Miss that guy.
This a great tribute, thanks for writing this.
And I'm sorry I didn't share with more people the way I would avoid those disgusting kisses, I would preemptively grab him by the ears and kiss his increasingly grizzled cheeks and so I never got one on the lips like others suffered.
I worked at the Brattle in the 80's. I started to write about that in the Billy context and it was too much!