Ras Kennedy, also known as The eXpressions Journal guy, quits

A little ad in the local news section on Craigslist posted on September 2 has a picture of Ras Kennedy—the blond, dreadlocked and, very dedicated canvasser for The eXpressions Journal who was seen almost daily on Brady Street for the last 15 years or so—with the words “I quit…” The A.V. Club got in touch with The eXpressions Journal, which confirmed Kennedy’s resignation: “Believe the ad,” we were told. “It’s true.” Ras Kennedy will no longer be hawking on Brady Street, or all the other places he could be found—which was seemingly everywhere. He’s been spotted in Madison, Chicago, Bay View, in the University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student union, our doorsteps, and beyond. But mostly, he hung outside of Walgreens on Brady Street with his clipboard and copies of the quarterly, ready to pounce.

Anyone who’s ever encountered him—and that would be anyone who has lived on the East Side at any point in recent memory—knows Kennedy and his sales pitch. He’d corner you, follow you, tap you on the shoulder, whatever it took to get your attention and ask, “Are you creative? Do you write?” To which most people answered, “No,” and ran off. After around 10 of these encounters, East Siders learned to cross the street, not make eye contact, or simply scurry away at the sight of the smiling, ever-friendly, and constantly working Kennedy.

The eXpressions Journal is a quarterly paper that publishes everybody’s everything; subscribers get “priority publishing space” in future editions and all are welcome. The whole concept of the paper hinges on one’s desire to preserve his or her own creativity—usually in the form of poetry or other writing—and see it published. It’s amazing the outfit is still going, really, when anybody can achieve the same narcissistic goal through a personal blog. But it still exists—although it’s hard to imagine the publication without the persistent and pleasantly aggressive pitchman Kennedy as the paper’s face.

While we’re glad we won’t have to dodge Kennedy anymore, The A.V. Club can’t help but feel a little sad about what almost certainly is the end of an era. Ras Kennedy is a Brady Street fixture, a local character up there with the Pepperoni Canoli guy. His presence on Brady was one of the certainties in life. More than anything, though, we can’t help but wonder: What ever will he do next?