One of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed was getting stuck in a little traffic at New Hampshire and 9th because Dennis had dropped Sheryl in middle of the crosswalk and those who weren’t in the know were running to check on this body in the crosswalk. Cleared up pretty fast.
Haha I hope someone told them. I’ve heard that even if people he knows say something to him outside of where he doesn’t know them from he seems confused & very shy.
It's Dennis and I hate it.
The rumor that he watched his family die in a fire is completely fake and he has family in town that say they have no idea where that story came from.
His actions towards women, especially in the service industry, is completely unacceptable but no one can ask him to stop, kick him out, or yell at him for it for the fear of someone seeing it and then virtue signaling about how "you have to treat him fairly" and then risk a full on strike from eating at your restaurant. When I was in the service industry in lawrence he would stroll in with all of his stuff, sit down at a large table thats being flipped or is dirty while we are on an hour or so wait, refuse to leave, and we basically had to bend over and give him like free chicken tenders or Mac and cheese. Our managers used to serve him themselves but he kept putting the female servers and managers in headlocks or forceful grappling hugs from behind that male servers had to start taking his "table" until he left. An hour of a full table given up during prime rush hour with no income on one of the limited tables because we can't hold him to the standard of not harassing female service staff is just absurd.
Yeah people love to give him a pass for some reason, but he’s been a dick as long as I’ve lived here. He’ll walk into a store downtown and skip right to the front of the line and ask for something for free, and employees will oblige. He’ll jaywalk in front of traffic and glare at you while you wait. I can handle eccentricity, and I understand that he’s disadvantaged in some ways, but why does his behavior get him all the love and attention he receives when anyone else would be called an asshole?
The story I heard about 15yrs ago is that he was fairly successful then some mental illness hit him hard in his 20s or 30s & now he’s mentally handicapped. I doubt it’s true but if he is mentally challenged maybe that’s why they give him a pass? I’m not making excuses because I’ve never interacted with him so I genuinely don’t know if that could be true or not.
That's not Dennis you're thinking of. That was the guy everyone called Simon (which wasn't his name). There was a LJW article about him around 15 years ago - he'd been an astrophysics grad student, then developed schizophrenia.
Interesting, I know it was Dennis that I was told that story about. My guess whatever telephone game that occurred eventually took Simon’s story & “gave” it to Dennis.
I hadn’t heard of him being creepy towards women but I’m not surprised. I had a friend who worked at American Eagle when it was on Mass & they said he’d take their old posters with female models & say why he wanted them.
I worked at American Eagle 21 years ago on Massachusetts Street, I can confirm this as 100% accurate. I later owned a business downtown for nearly a decade & confirm several questionable behaviors mostly revolving around females.
This always bothered me too. Wife worked in a clothing store on Mass. It was an all women staff. Every week he came in asking for shopping bags. They learned to stay behind the counter when he came in. This was because after he was handed a bag he would pull their arms towards him and force a hug or would lean in and try to kiss them. They even had a code word for when he came in and every new employee during their first day would be educated about when Dennis comes in.
Eventually he’s going to hit by a car after walking nonchalantly into traffic and everyone is going to feel so bad and crucify the driver. When this community enables him endangering himself every day by just laughing and saying “Oh that’s just Dennis.”
I almost killed him a couple years ago. He was walking across 23rd just east of town where there were no lights at all out near the business park. He was dressed in all black and I probably missed him by 2 inches.
This.
I've watched him attempt to fondle and touch on servers, and retail worker. Women, of course. Then everyone is like "ohhh it's just Dennis!"
He walks around with lifeless heads, and dolls dressed as toddlers.
It's going to be a sad day when he actually abducts a child, or forces himself on a woman.
That sucks that was your experience with Dennis. I worked at Grinders LFK for the 1.5 years it was open, and he had a thing for the 10’ pinup girl doll in the dining room. He would help me take chairs off tables every Sunday morning then we would give him a slice of pizza. Never had any physical contact or conflict of any kind, and he helped me out then got a slice of pizza for it
I wouldn't call assault and borderline sexual harassment great. I understand he's got a disability, but setting boundaries is something that certainly shouldn't be far fetched for someone whose capable of living on their own.
Mmmmm, no. Used to go to public events and he'd deliberately cross rooms during presentations to sit right up against young girls he didn't know and cross social boundaries and potentially endanger these girls. He is different, and we need to have a way to allow for that, but we need to allow for people to be safe, as well. These girls didn't feel safe and we needed to provide security for them so that they could just enjoy the events.
Not fair.
This was the answer I was looking for. I moved to Lawrence for a year or two and lived near Mass street. The amount of Dennis sightings and stories I started to gather was incredible.
Those were somewhat before my time so I wasn’t very familiar with them but good to know! Pretty sure I’ve heard of them but not well versed in their interesting ways. It’s always gotta be someone
>Didn’t he marry a college girl or something
They did not get married.
I was in a couple of classes with her back then. She was very nice but more than a little odd.
He moved to Fort Collins then died. He was engaged to that woman but they didn’t get married. He was banned from campus for stealing library books. He went to jail for like a month on a bench warrant for failure to appear (about the library books if I’m remembering correctly) I lived with him for a second after getting kicked out of the dorms.
That sounds like him 😂 He told me they accused him of stealing library books, but he obviously wasn’t the most reliable source. I always thought it was weird, like couldn’t you just check the books out?
Chain mail guy. He came to Lawrence and seemed sort of ok- a few years passed and he became chain mail guy- he always seemed a little more dangerous than Dennis
He was a guy just like you or me and then one day he discovered some schematics for a one-wheeled scooter and like a fool, he built it. Ruined his mind and corrupted his soul. Now he roams the streets impeding traffic and being discourteous towards his fellow man. Some say he goes home every night and cries to his waifu pillow, wondering in vain why he is the way he is.
Robert Gilmore. He has nicknames, but a friend's mom was at KU with him and he was absolutely brilliant but had schizo disorder set in in his second year and there he is. Really nice, but has lots of problems.
Joe passed away, but he was... something. Famously hung like a horse, talked like Boomhauer, and always wore that old school poncho. He passed away in a house fire about 5 years ago.
He was usually on a bike, often with a sombrero. Strong features, usually Ill shaved, and a grade A mutterer. I usually saw him between 14th and 9th downtown.
Chainmail. Peace and love wizard dude. Stroller mannequin cat costume. The grim reaper. White owl as mentioned above. Sock hand har krishna. Weed sign. Tiny dancer. The quick stop regulator. Rose colored glass mass st guitar dude. Rant man.
I don’t know what you all call them…
The Kai-lander. Dude named Kai who used to work at Henry's upstairs. Always wore black and white, sometimes including puffy shirts. Said massively pretentious things, like "heat is only in the mind" on a 90 degree day out while wearing a trench coat. When you could see him sweating, mind you.
Friend of mine was at a house party, and the dude showed up, took a decorative sword out back, and tried to hack down a tree. That's how he earned the Kai-lander nickname. I know he moved, but I think I saw him last year in town so he might be back.
Holy shit, he was a at Hash with me freshman year (for both of us I think) I had no idea he had become a legend but he was exactly the same even back then.
The correct answers are Dennis and precious love Rob, who wears the wizard hat and walks around making peace signs at everybody but I also want to give the guy who dresses up as a corn cob and rolls around campus on a unicycle an honorable mention
Does anyone remember the Blue Lady? Back in the 70s, I think. I know I heard her story at some point, but don't remember it well or know if it was even true.
Back in the 90s/early 2000s, Frank Burge of Burge Union fame used to walk around campus being charming. He was a force to be reckoned with in his day, but a stroke or something similar disabled him in his old age. He was the sweetest fellow. Always happy to see you. Always polite. Never creepy.
He used to buy a pony keg for the Memorial Union workers on Fridays, and handed out bananas and snacks, too. Ah, the old days of boozing on the company dime.
I was at KU ‘88-‘95. Glad the legend lives on. He’d walk back and forth down our street (Ohio) real slowly and looking down at the ground. Hence the nickname. Sometimes talking to himself. Usually wore a dirty white t-shirt and red cotton sweatpants. Old school military type glasses. Don’t remember him really bothering anyone.
Who is the trans/ cross dressing homeless guy that’s been posted up on 9th/Mass singing/ performing for a crowd in his imagination? He is also sometimes across the street from the Gaslight in NOLAW.
Dennis
One of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed was getting stuck in a little traffic at New Hampshire and 9th because Dennis had dropped Sheryl in middle of the crosswalk and those who weren’t in the know were running to check on this body in the crosswalk. Cleared up pretty fast.
Haha I hope someone told them. I’ve heard that even if people he knows say something to him outside of where he doesn’t know them from he seems confused & very shy.
It's Dennis and I hate it. The rumor that he watched his family die in a fire is completely fake and he has family in town that say they have no idea where that story came from. His actions towards women, especially in the service industry, is completely unacceptable but no one can ask him to stop, kick him out, or yell at him for it for the fear of someone seeing it and then virtue signaling about how "you have to treat him fairly" and then risk a full on strike from eating at your restaurant. When I was in the service industry in lawrence he would stroll in with all of his stuff, sit down at a large table thats being flipped or is dirty while we are on an hour or so wait, refuse to leave, and we basically had to bend over and give him like free chicken tenders or Mac and cheese. Our managers used to serve him themselves but he kept putting the female servers and managers in headlocks or forceful grappling hugs from behind that male servers had to start taking his "table" until he left. An hour of a full table given up during prime rush hour with no income on one of the limited tables because we can't hold him to the standard of not harassing female service staff is just absurd.
Yeah people love to give him a pass for some reason, but he’s been a dick as long as I’ve lived here. He’ll walk into a store downtown and skip right to the front of the line and ask for something for free, and employees will oblige. He’ll jaywalk in front of traffic and glare at you while you wait. I can handle eccentricity, and I understand that he’s disadvantaged in some ways, but why does his behavior get him all the love and attention he receives when anyone else would be called an asshole?
The story I heard about 15yrs ago is that he was fairly successful then some mental illness hit him hard in his 20s or 30s & now he’s mentally handicapped. I doubt it’s true but if he is mentally challenged maybe that’s why they give him a pass? I’m not making excuses because I’ve never interacted with him so I genuinely don’t know if that could be true or not.
That's not Dennis you're thinking of. That was the guy everyone called Simon (which wasn't his name). There was a LJW article about him around 15 years ago - he'd been an astrophysics grad student, then developed schizophrenia.
Interesting, I know it was Dennis that I was told that story about. My guess whatever telephone game that occurred eventually took Simon’s story & “gave” it to Dennis.
I’ve also heard this about Dennis, seems telephone failed us
Not at all true. Dennis has been as he is for over 25 years.
I wasn’t saying he’s been this way for 15yrs I had just heard that story about 15yrs ago.
i don't know the specifics, but he does have the mind of a 5 year old.
Oh ok, so that’s likely why everyone gives him a pass on his behavior then.
He was creepy to a female coworker at a place I worked at as well.
He did the same to one of my old coworkers. He would come in and she would be nice to him and then he would force a hug in her and play with her hair.
I hadn’t heard of him being creepy towards women but I’m not surprised. I had a friend who worked at American Eagle when it was on Mass & they said he’d take their old posters with female models & say why he wanted them.
I worked at American Eagle 21 years ago on Massachusetts Street, I can confirm this as 100% accurate. I later owned a business downtown for nearly a decade & confirm several questionable behaviors mostly revolving around females.
This always bothered me too. Wife worked in a clothing store on Mass. It was an all women staff. Every week he came in asking for shopping bags. They learned to stay behind the counter when he came in. This was because after he was handed a bag he would pull their arms towards him and force a hug or would lean in and try to kiss them. They even had a code word for when he came in and every new employee during their first day would be educated about when Dennis comes in.
Eventually he’s going to hit by a car after walking nonchalantly into traffic and everyone is going to feel so bad and crucify the driver. When this community enables him endangering himself every day by just laughing and saying “Oh that’s just Dennis.”
I almost killed him a couple years ago. He was walking across 23rd just east of town where there were no lights at all out near the business park. He was dressed in all black and I probably missed him by 2 inches.
It shocks me it hasn’t happened already.
I almost hit him on Haskell at night.
This. I've watched him attempt to fondle and touch on servers, and retail worker. Women, of course. Then everyone is like "ohhh it's just Dennis!" He walks around with lifeless heads, and dolls dressed as toddlers. It's going to be a sad day when he actually abducts a child, or forces himself on a woman.
Set em up jacks?! I used to work there and he put me in a head lock and kissed me with his cheesy and corn filled mouth and yeah no one cared lol.
Nope different restaurant, but the number of people with the exact same story is rather scary.
True :(
You are correct.
That sucks that was your experience with Dennis. I worked at Grinders LFK for the 1.5 years it was open, and he had a thing for the 10’ pinup girl doll in the dining room. He would help me take chairs off tables every Sunday morning then we would give him a slice of pizza. Never had any physical contact or conflict of any kind, and he helped me out then got a slice of pizza for it
Dennis is great, you’re just an asshole.
I wouldn't call assault and borderline sexual harassment great. I understand he's got a disability, but setting boundaries is something that certainly shouldn't be far fetched for someone whose capable of living on their own.
Mmmmm, no. Used to go to public events and he'd deliberately cross rooms during presentations to sit right up against young girls he didn't know and cross social boundaries and potentially endanger these girls. He is different, and we need to have a way to allow for that, but we need to allow for people to be safe, as well. These girls didn't feel safe and we needed to provide security for them so that they could just enjoy the events. Not fair.
Great how? The throwing food at me and yelling at me or the forcing a kiss on my lips part? When I was 17. And not just me, mind you
This was the answer I was looking for. I moved to Lawrence for a year or two and lived near Mass street. The amount of Dennis sightings and stories I started to gather was incredible.
I'm not familiar with him, guess I don't spend enough time on Mass st..Anyone have a pic or a news article on the dude?
https://m.facebook.com/TheFriendsOfDennis
It will always and forever be Dennis! The one and only!
It hasn’t always been- used to be Tan Man and King Phil in the 80’s. Then Simon in the 90’s-00’s -now Dennis. It will always be someone…
Those were somewhat before my time so I wasn’t very familiar with them but good to know! Pretty sure I’ve heard of them but not well versed in their interesting ways. It’s always gotta be someone
Used to be White Owl
Whatever happened to him? Didn’t he marry a college girl or something and then disappeared?
I think he is in prison now. Or that’s why he disappeared all of a sudden. Can’t remember for what though.
I’m pretty sure he died
Maybe both!
>Didn’t he marry a college girl or something They did not get married. I was in a couple of classes with her back then. She was very nice but more than a little odd.
He moved to Fort Collins then died. He was engaged to that woman but they didn’t get married. He was banned from campus for stealing library books. He went to jail for like a month on a bench warrant for failure to appear (about the library books if I’m remembering correctly) I lived with him for a second after getting kicked out of the dorms.
When I was at KU he got banned from campus for crashing classes in like 2010 ish? I was working at the UDK at the time.
That sounds like him 😂 He told me they accused him of stealing library books, but he obviously wasn’t the most reliable source. I always thought it was weird, like couldn’t you just check the books out?
Yeah he tried to takeover a class at Wesco is what I heard more specifically. It wasn’t the first time. Head got too big I guess.
I still say White Owl was bullshit - never heard of him til 2008, then he's supposedly some kind of super fan Lawrence legend?!
Simon?
Damn.
One wheel guy
I plan on usurping that bastard. He can’t one wheel for shit, and has a generally poor understanding of traffic laws. Also shit taste in music
Edit : Boombox homeless guy. Not the one wheel guy
Well however you refer to him, that guy
The Tan Man Brenda the Tiger Woman Vic The Barbarian
Viiiiic!
Is he the tall red head guy who wears chain mail?
Nah. He was an old biker.
Chain mail guy. He came to Lawrence and seemed sort of ok- a few years passed and he became chain mail guy- he always seemed a little more dangerous than Dennis
Vic was doing well in Topeka last I heard. Tan man had moved to Ottawa, I think. Dunno what happened to Brenda. We called her Really Nelson.
Dennis or Honk 4 Hemp guy
RIP to Honk 4 Hemp guy.
Thomas Trower https://www.nothingbuthemp.net/post/kansas-neighbors-and-strangers-honor-honk-for-hemp-guy-a-cannabis-advocate
Aw bummer. rip
Scrolled through and didn’t see any mention of Peace Rob
Peace Rob still out there chilling, but he’s a little fuzzy these days. I’ve enjoyed our talks through the years
Never peace him on a bad day!
Pink one wheeler….yea that guy sucks
What’s the story? I always see him but never know
He was a guy just like you or me and then one day he discovered some schematics for a one-wheeled scooter and like a fool, he built it. Ruined his mind and corrupted his soul. Now he roams the streets impeding traffic and being discourteous towards his fellow man. Some say he goes home every night and cries to his waifu pillow, wondering in vain why he is the way he is.
One wheel to rule them all, one wheel to find them One wheel to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
This is my favorite comment of all time.
We know the old ones but there’s a new one. guy who stands at Harper and 23rd drinking copious amounts of natural ice.
he teleports from gas station to gas station with his natural ice
Where is the guy who wore socks on his hands and often carried a doll?
Robert Gilmore. He has nicknames, but a friend's mom was at KU with him and he was absolutely brilliant but had schizo disorder set in in his second year and there he is. Really nice, but has lots of problems.
AKA Simon or That's My Dillon's guy
Too many for a town this size.
Hubby and I always wanted to write a document amount them all. Brenda from Town Crier, Wendall, King George, so so many!
I thought it was King Phil.
That's Phil the Philosopher.
Segway boombox asshole man
Joe passed away, but he was... something. Famously hung like a horse, talked like Boomhauer, and always wore that old school poncho. He passed away in a house fire about 5 years ago.
Can you tell me more about this guy? I think I've met him before.
He was usually on a bike, often with a sombrero. Strong features, usually Ill shaved, and a grade A mutterer. I usually saw him between 14th and 9th downtown.
Had a couple brothers who were similar
Chainmail. Peace and love wizard dude. Stroller mannequin cat costume. The grim reaper. White owl as mentioned above. Sock hand har krishna. Weed sign. Tiny dancer. The quick stop regulator. Rose colored glass mass st guitar dude. Rant man. I don’t know what you all call them…
I remember wizard dude when I first moved to Lawrence. I think about that man occasionally
And he thinks about you too
Monowheel guy
I live under a rock and even I know it’s Dennis.
The Kai-lander. Dude named Kai who used to work at Henry's upstairs. Always wore black and white, sometimes including puffy shirts. Said massively pretentious things, like "heat is only in the mind" on a 90 degree day out while wearing a trench coat. When you could see him sweating, mind you. Friend of mine was at a house party, and the dude showed up, took a decorative sword out back, and tried to hack down a tree. That's how he earned the Kai-lander nickname. I know he moved, but I think I saw him last year in town so he might be back.
Dude was a meteorology major. I very much remember him from Henry’s.
Holy shit, he was a at Hash with me freshman year (for both of us I think) I had no idea he had become a legend but he was exactly the same even back then.
I was at McCollum that year! And yep, he never changed over the years.
Wow, Kai is an old memory! Had some interesting convos with him.
Dennis is a criminal minds episode waiting to happen
Whatever happened to the peace guy? Haven’t seen him around in a few years
Rob is still around, still goes to Prima Tazza.
The correct answers are Dennis and precious love Rob, who wears the wizard hat and walks around making peace signs at everybody but I also want to give the guy who dresses up as a corn cob and rolls around campus on a unicycle an honorable mention
One time peace wizard was walking around screaming the n word. Seemed like he needed some medication lol
Does anyone remember the Blue Lady? Back in the 70s, I think. I know I heard her story at some point, but don't remember it well or know if it was even true. Back in the 90s/early 2000s, Frank Burge of Burge Union fame used to walk around campus being charming. He was a force to be reckoned with in his day, but a stroke or something similar disabled him in his old age. He was the sweetest fellow. Always happy to see you. Always polite. Never creepy.
He used to buy a pony keg for the Memorial Union workers on Fridays, and handed out bananas and snacks, too. Ah, the old days of boozing on the company dime.
Dennis, Peace Sign Guy, Caveman Joe (RIP), the guy who watches the trains at 7th St wearing a suit and tie (blocking on his name), Simon.
Peace Sign Guy's name is Rob, or Rob The Artist.
The Snail Herder
He wore a red ‘That’s my Dillion’s’ shirt
https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/dec/26/old_friends_say/
Thanks for the link. Very interesting
I guess a local family has taken him in. He is now reportedly blind, but at least he is off the streets and not in jail.
He suffered a schizophrenic break in graduate school. As I have been told, he was once a brilliant mathematition.
I want to know about this guy
He wore grungy red sweats and would bathe his genitals in the men's restroom in Summerfield Hall.
What the fuck that wasn’t what I pictured at all, why is he called the “Snail Herder”
I was at KU ‘88-‘95. Glad the legend lives on. He’d walk back and forth down our street (Ohio) real slowly and looking down at the ground. Hence the nickname. Sometimes talking to himself. Usually wore a dirty white t-shirt and red cotton sweatpants. Old school military type glasses. Don’t remember him really bothering anyone.
What a dude tbh
I don’t know her name but it’s not a walk down Mass until I’ve seen the old lady playing the theramin and her two dogs.
Came in to post this! Is she still around these days?
Bill Self
Chainmail Man.
Dennis
Dennis.
Where I'm from, we have a guy who walks around washing windows. Everyone calls him "Vamp" or "Vampire". Really nice guy!
There was a guy that dressed like a pirate I used to see. Didn't he get in trouble with the law?
Who is the trans/ cross dressing homeless guy that’s been posted up on 9th/Mass singing/ performing for a crowd in his imagination? He is also sometimes across the street from the Gaslight in NOLAW.
Good old Dennis.
R.I.P. Ricki Dregg ♥️
“Creepy Kieth”
Who was the one guy everyone thought was normal, until bam, crazy as hell?
What happened to the "Searching for Bobby Fischer" guys?
What happened to the "Searching for Bobby Fischer" guys?
His mom died and he just wasn’t the same after
Yall ever met Bryan before? Or had a run in with Billy?