Duo pay tribute to late street juggler
Balls are back in the air on Main Street.
Two men yesterday took up the regular spot of Palmerston North juggler Mike Newman, who died this week aged 68, in tribute to their friend and fellow performer.
Wayne Burrows first met Newman when he joined a juggling class in 1987. They were friends ever since, and he was saddened to learn of Newman’s death on Monday, after seeing tributes on Facebook.
‘‘I saw him and had a catch up just a week ago. He didn’t seem to be in any worse health than he has been for a long while.’’
A former street performer, Burrows hadn’t done much juggling in recent years, but decided to break out his pins and balls in memory of his old friend.
‘‘I used to stop and have a long talk with Mike whenever I saw him performing. Occasionally, I’d do a bit of juggling with him too.’’
Burrows said he wanted to honour Newman with something he would have enjoyed, and tried to approach the performance the way he would have. Burrows was joined by a professional juggler calling himself ‘‘Johnny Angel Cool’’, who said he’d befriended Newman a few years ago.
The pair set up to quietly entertain the lunchtime crowd at Newman’s old spot, outside Downtown, offering friendly conversation to passers-by and and tips on the basics of juggling to those who were curious.
Burrows said he was touched by how many people stopped to share fond memories of Newman.
‘‘We’ve only been at it half and hour, and dozens of people have stopped by already.’’
A highlight, he said, was a young woman from Papua New Guinea woman who knew how to juggle and joined them for a couple of minutes when she found out why they were there.