providencepubliclibrary: On this day in 1885, the birth of Langley Collyer, brother of Homer. Homer
providencepubliclibrary: On this day in 1885, the birth of Langley Collyer, brother of Homer. Homer and Langley Collyer’s “story began in the beginning of the 20th century but ended in 1947 when they died side-by-side buried under piles of rubbish that had accumulated in their Manhattan row house. Homer, the older of the two, was blind and was cared for by younger brother Langley at the house in Harlem. Langley believed his brother’s sight could be restored with a diet high in vitamin C so he fed Homer 100 oranges a week. In the meantime, Langley began keeping years’ worth of newspapers so his brother could read them once his sight had been restored. What started as a well-meaning but misguided gesture escalated over the years into an out-of-control collection that engulfed their home and the brothers became recluses, prisoners in their own house […] The extent of the brothers’ junk collecting only emerged in March 1947 when the authorities received a tip-off that someone had died in the property.” - Kerry McQueeney, The Daily Mail Images courtesy The New York Daily News. Below, EL Doctorow’s novel based on the Collyer brothers’ lives. -- source link