Mourning the Loss of Lou Reed

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Lou Reed strolling East Houston, March 2011

Lou Reed died yesterday in his Amagansett, Long Island home; the Velvet Underground frontman was 71 years old. Official cause of death was liver failure, according to Dr. Charles Miller of the Cleveland Clinic, where Reed had undergone liver transplant surgery earlier this year.

Here is a quick roundup of tribute reporting from across the interwebs:

• The New York Times has the definitive obituary of Lou Reed, spilling wells of ink on his career and impact.

• Punk Magazine co-founder Legs McNeil reminisces about how Lou Reed hated him. Or was it all an act?

• Sasha Frere Jones wrote in the New Yorker that, “Reed, for better or worse, was always right in front of us, no different from anyone, except that he had some pretty nice guitars. The measure of his influence and importance dwarfs the news item, the obituary, the tribute.”

• Diving into the significance of Lou Reed’s solo record Street Hassle.

• The last tweet from Lou Reed’s Twitter handle is a photo of his Supreme ad poster hanging in a doorway.

And on a comical personal note, every time we crossed paths with Lou Reed on the neighborhood streets, he sported some flamboyant footwear. Still vibrant is the memory of seeing him waiting (for the man?) outside Sunshine Cinema about a decade ago, wearing bright yellow Crocs. Punk rock.