The kid heard about it late morning on Thursday. First thing, he got in the car and drove from Des Plaines out to Carpentersville, near Elgin. He saw his brother-in-law, got the tape, and roared into Chicago. By quarter of three, he was in position, in the hematology and oncology ward of Children’s Memorial Hospital. The kid was ratty looking, maybe 16, with a rust-colored attempt at a beard clinging to the underside of his chin and up along his jawbone; watching him sidle nervously around the ninth-floor “teen room” you’d be forgiven for thinking that his manner–more than vaguely reminiscent of Crispin Glover’s in River’s Edge–was the product of a creative combination of amphetamines. The kid’s brother had been on the ward for some time and had tipped him off. The kid nodded to him and got ready. There was a stereo with a cassette deck in the teen room; he put the tape in and held his hand on the play button.
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Some of the denizens of the ward along with a lucky few from elsewhere in the hospital had gathered in the teen room. Their ages ranged, it seemed, from about 8 to maybe 14. One was missing part of a leg; others sported complicated, twisted contraptions of IVs and tubes and bags. Some cookies and chips sat on a table in the corner; next to the table were some promising-looking boxes.
The kid hanging around the stereo had been watching Plant intently. Suddenly he slammed the play button and cranked up the volume. The onlookers–the WXRT reps, the hospital people, the journalists–strained to hear what the English rock stars were saying to the children. They gave the kid a look, and he turned the music down a notch, but as soon as they looked away he cranked it up again. On the tape was some rock music, which, it turned out, had been recorded by the kid’s brother-in-law. The kid kept his hand on the volume control, and skittishly kept an eye on Plant, who didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the music.
Just a few feet away, Plant’s manager, who had been keeping a serious but benevolent eye on the band members throughout the proceedings, was explaining to a WXRT person and a hospital person that he would like the photos of Robert Plant used not to include him posing with Sony equipment. “You can use the pictures however you like,” he said, with a calm English accent, “but we would like them not to be with Sony. We don’t want it to look like we’re being motivated by Sony.”
“There will be five tickets there tonight,” said the manager clearly, “under this name. Is that OK?”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Judy Braginsky–Children’s Memorial Hospital.
