FREE RIDE

Compliment Man's Replacement Is a Bit Stiff

DO YOU REMEMBER COMPLIMENT MAN? Weekend warriors and others who frequented Adams Morgan years ago certainly ran into Ron Miller, who was often stationed at 18th Street NW and Belmont Road and other locations near Dupont Circle, where he complimented people as they walked by. 2007-07-23-compliments.jpgCorrect us if we're wrong, but Miller appeared to have left the area sometime during President Bush's first term and didn't return, just like Blevis, or Black Elvis, another Adams Morgan sidewalk figure, who once showed up at a Mount Pleasant house party this reporter attended in 2002. (Maybe the Adams Morgan-based Washington City Paper could chime in if they know more about Miller's whereabouts.)

Compliment Man may be gone, but the compliments have returned. As The Post's Joshua Zumbrun wrote on Saturday, there is now a Compliment Machine, part of a new visual arts installation from artist Tom Greaves. The machine, located at 14th and Q streets NW, says stuff like: "Ding! "People are drawn to your positive energy."

Back in 2003, Miller told The Post's Monte Reel that he was concerned that if he left D.C., imposters might try to capitalize on his name:

I'm afraid you might get the wrong person out here, for the wrong reasons. ... I worry about that a lot.
How might the real Compliment Man feel about his new substitute? Can an automation replace a living, breathing, human distributor of free compliments?

» "The Art of Gratuitous Praise" [WaPo]
» "Charmed . . . They're Sure" [WaPo]

Above: Photo of Ron Miller, aka Compliment Man, in 2003 by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post; Below: Photo of artist Tom Greaves by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post

ALSO IN FREE RIDE
COMMENTS (11)

  • Compliments to the compliment machine. A wonderful concept. Do you remember the balloon man in Georgetown?

    By Egils , Posted July 23, 2007 11:26 AM

  • Compliments to the compliment machine. Great concept!

    By Egils , Posted July 23, 2007 11:28 AM

  • Compliment Man used to live next door to me in Harvard Hall. I moved away in '02 and haven't seen him since my return. I think he moved to France in protest of the Bush administration.

    By chef , Posted July 23, 2007 12:51 PM

  • Sure do miss the Compliment Man! "Nice shoes!"

    Haven't thought of him in years, seeing his picture made my day.

    By joce , Posted July 23, 2007 3:41 PM

  • Compliment man and Blelvis were both featured in the recent book "Weird Virginia," which included a number of items about DC. I hadn't seen either of them since about 2002 or 2003 though.

    By pants , Posted July 24, 2007 11:11 AM

  • I'd love to know what happened to compliment man. He was such a fixture of the Adams Morgan scene way back when.

    By MKH , Posted July 24, 2007 1:18 PM

  • I see Blelvis all the time, usually on Columbia. I don't know where he went, but he's back and still full of Elvis trivia.

    By rockcreekrambler , Posted July 24, 2007 5:10 PM

  • Compliment Man has been in Jacksonville, Florida. I used to see him walking to the parking garage after work. We changed garages, so it's been a few months since I've seen him.

    By JaxGal , Posted July 28, 2007 11:39 AM

  • Yo Blevis is alive and well. I didn't know he was a figurehead, just thought he was interesting. He's in Columbia Heights, not to far from Adam's morgan. And his singing voice is still in good shape.

    By J Gonzales , Posted August 2, 2007 10:31 AM

  • Why should Va. Tech pay each family with a murdered student $180,000,when Va. mental health should not have released a person who they said was "a danger to himself and others" to attend school at Va. Tech. As far as I read, the Va. Tech police made every effort to have the murderer hospitalized, to no avail. Shouldn't Va. mental health pay each family $180,000 instead of Va. Tech?
    I participated in Va. mental health system and I got terrible treatment there, in fact I had grounds to sue if I wanted to. Someome should look into Va. mental health system. I don't ever want to go there again, not even to sue.

    By Julie Titsworth , Posted September 19, 2007 2:37 PM

  • I lived in Washington DC from 1996 to 2001 and one of my favorite memories of the local scene that most tourist don't ever see is of the compliment man.

    By Melissa , Posted January 14, 2009 2:44 AM
POST A COMMENT
All comments on Express' blogs will be screened for appropriateness, spam and topic relevance, so there is likely to be a delay before your comment is displayed. Thanks for your patience.
Remember personal info?
(you may use HTML tags for style)