IN MEMORIAM

LONGTIME ‘CONTRIBUTOR’ VENDOR DAVID BURKE DIES AT 55

BY AMANDA HAGGARD AND HANNAH HERNER

Contributor alum David Burke died on Dec. 21, 2021 while in hospice care. He would often sell The Contributor at the Downtown Arcade. He was 55 years old.

In a Vendor Spotlight of David in 2014, he said selling downtown was like being in one of his favorite televisions shows.

“It’s like Cheers,” Burke says. “Seriously, everybody knows my name. And most everybody is friendly.”

Burke sold The Contributor on and off for more than a decade. He sold the paper early on and was vendor No. 29.

Contributor Director Cathy Jennings said Burke sold almost 24,000 papers during his tenure. He always wanted to go to France because he could speak some French.

“David recently got into housing,” Jennings says. “David was one of those quiet people who can slip through the cracks. He was always pleasant and smiling — makes

me realize we have to watch out for those people more.”

Raven Lintu, director of housing initiatives for The Contributor, says. “I will always remember David with his wide smile, and laughing along with his jokes. I remember he would always come in the vendor office back in the day and would make the day feel brighter. Thank you David for the laughs and smiles.”

Co-editor for The Contributor Amanda Haggard says Burke was the first vendor she ever bought a paper from.

“Before I began working and contracting with The Contributor, David said hello when I was walking downtown, struck up a conversation and then asked if I wanted to buy a paper,” Haggard says. “I remember how warm and friendly he could be and how easy he was to talk to.”

Co-editor for The Contributor Linda Bailey says she would always see David downtown

when he regularly sold the paper in front of the Walgreens in The Arcade.

“In my early years working at The Contributor, I would always pass David on my way to get coffee. I’d try to stop by for a quick chat and David would make a joke or tell me how things were going in his thick Northeastern accent,” Bailey said. “He always had a smile, even when I knew things going on in his life were difficult.”

Volunteer Michael Reilly said that David bore his many burdens with a positive attitude. “He was a gentle soul,” Reilly says. Another volunteer, Andy Shapiro said David was a good man, who could sometimes have a short fuse because he “knew the world was passing him by without recognition.”

In the spotlight from 2014, he also spoke about losing three other jobs before he started selling The Contributor because he had a history of epileptic seizures. Everytime he would have a seizure, he would lose a job, and the stability that came with it. He described selling The Contributor as a “lifeline” that allowed him to buy his medication and meet other needs and work on his own time.

“I count my successes by whether I can get the things done that I need. That almost always works out,” Burke said.

Director of vending Tom Wills remembered David as a resilient and faithful vendor for years at the entrance to the Arcade by Walgreens and at the KFC at Murfreesboro and Bell Rd.

“Even when he broke his ankle he had the willpower to get out and meet his customers,” Wills says. “Over the pandemic he got out of his routines, dealt with illness and eventually found housing. I miss his smile and steadfastness. The Arcade will always remind me of David.”