A couple of weeks ago I met some friends for a party at a bar in Deep Ellum. When I arrived, one of them told me, “you just missed Bob.”
Bob is a guy, a vagabond, who I once wrote a story about.
My friend told me that Bob was kicked out, because he was pestering people.
Bob’s an interesting man. So interesting that some White Rock area folks made a movie about him—it was rather mind blowing (here’s my review of it, from when it premiered at the Angelika).
Many people still see Bob, who frequents places in East Dallas and Lake Highlands, as an annoyance. If your band is playing in Deep Ellum, he will power up his keyboard and try to join you. If you stop to say “hi” to him, he will likely ask you to drive him somewhere. If you are in a confined space with him, you might be subject to an offensive odor—that’s Bob and he makes no apologies.
But a growing number of people have come to appreciate Bob’s unique character, especially since the movie, “His Name is Bob”, has been making the rounds. The folks at the Dallas Morning News, for example, recently put Bob—his real name is Robert Crawford—on the front page. Their photographer’s lens is very kind to Bob. Unless you are a subscriber, you won’t be able to read the story, but you can see the photos.
The makers of “His Name is Bob” are still working to sell the movie to a production company. It has shown at several film festivals and won some awards.
Keep up with Bob, the moviemakers and screenings on their blog and Facebook page. Hopefully we’ll get another local screening of the movie soon.
