Leroy Berry, 59, plays the bongos and sings in his backyard by his grandkids' playset. Berry spent his whole life on the road from the age of 17 doing odd jobs to get by, and along the way falling into a drug habit with drugs as serious as herion and LSD. In 2002 his sister found him in St. Louis and they both agreed he needed to leave, says Berry. She took him to Bowling Green, where he got back in touch with his passion for performing he had as a kid, he said, "As a teen I survived through the performing arts center (in St. Louis), but my teen life was snatched from me when I had a kid at 16." Berry tries to convey happiness to others through his music, he said.
Berry now lives with his wife in Bowling Green, and she has let him dedicate a room of the house to his art. The walls of the room are surrounded by drawings of influential black people painted by his brother, Lavirelle Aber. Selling these drawings was once a main source of income for the brothers.
very nice - tells a good story and the narrative drew me in and made me want to see the drawings, which are there in a way that keeps focus on Leroy
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