Martha Cooper Remembers Stay High 149 - The Voice of the Ghetto

Among graffiti writers, Wayne Roberts aka Stay High 149 was a pioneer of pioneers. His distinctive, enduring tag is recognized worldwide and will live on but sadly he is no longer with us. His family could use some help with funeral arrangements.

Here’s the info from Alan Ket:
The funeral and the wake will cost Stay High/Wayne’s family $10,000. They have put up $6000 so far and are looking for help on collecting the last $4000 needed to get everything done. The deadline for this is Friday. For all of you who are able to contribute any funds please do so by getting a check to: Unity Funeral Chapel at the address below.  They will also take credit cards.
Unity Funeral Chapel
2352 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10027
212-666-8300
the contact is Ms. Jackson

The wake is on Monday from 3pm - 8pm at the above funeral home.
The funeral is on Tuesday at 10:00AM.

Excellent piece in the New York Times by David Gonzalez here..

I’ve been an admirer of Stay High’s iconic smoking stick figure since the early ‘80’s however I didn’t actually meet him until he resurfaced after a long retirement around 2002. It was always a special treat to spot one of his tags. here are some vintage and more recent examples.

Text and Photo: Martha Cooper