If I had a dollar for every time someone ask of me why is Rory L. Watkins a featured writer in my book The Pride of Park Avenue, well, you know the rest. Rory was my very best friend and he inspired me to get my act together and become whatever it was God intended for me to be. Without Rory, there is no Pride of Park Avenue!!!
...reprinted from the St. Louis Post Dispatch February 25, 2008....
St. Louis city police have identified the victims of the latest two homicides...
In a homicide from Friday, police say, Rory Watkins was shot several times in the head as he sat in a car in the 4100 block of West Lee Avenue.
Police say Watkins was sitting in a car when he was shot about 10:45 a.m. Friday.
Witnesses told police they heard three gunshots and saw a man run away.—Copyright 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
SHED SO MANY TEARS, PART III
from the book, The Pride of Park Avenue by Toriano Porter featuring Rory L. Watkins
My Homie. My partner. My best friend. My brother is gone.
When I got the word that my best friend of nearly 23 years was gunned down in cold blood in the streets of St. Louis, I was devastated. It was and always will be the saddest day of my life.
I mean, damn, me and my dude had so much we wanted to do with this writing. He had all these wonderful tales he wanted to share and I wanted to help him share them.
I’m dedicated to that mission. Every time I sit down to write, I’m dedicating it to the realest brother I have ever known, Rory L. Watkins, forever and always known as O.G. Nose from Laclede Town’s Lawton Block.
A father of three, a friend of many and one of a kind, I met my dude the fi rst day of our 6th grade year and we have been partners in crime, brothers at arms and kindred spirits since. We will survive.
Nose, your memory lives on. I could not, for the life of me, muster the strength or the courage to write your eulogy, bro. The pain is still fresh. You are gone and it hurts too bad.
Know that I love you, I miss you and I pray everyday for your spirit to protect me and guide me as it did when you were here. You are truly one of my guardian angels.
