We Say Good-bye to “The Picnic Permit King of Chicago”

We Say Good-bye to “The Picnic Permit King of Chicago”
Jim "Moose" Murphy. Courtesy of Fuzzymemories.tv
We Say Good-bye to “The Picnic Permit King of Chicago”
Jim "Moose" Murphy. Courtesy of Fuzzymemories.tv

We Say Good-bye to “The Picnic Permit King of Chicago”

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If you’re from Chicago, you probably know Jim “Moose” Murphy who was also known as “The Picnic Permit King of Chicago.” In 1983, Jim Murphy worked hard to be the man who held that year’s first forest preserve picnic permit. He set up a lawn chair, a cooler, and a portable television inside the Daley Center and grabbed the title of “Picnic Permit King.” For 19 years, Murphy received picnic permit number 00001 and turned it over to organizations like The Antler Dancers Sportsman Club, The Flower Parish Reunion, and The Raiders Social and Athletic Club. Moose Murphy died earlier this month at the age of 59.

Fuzzymemories.tv has this memory of Jim “Moose” Murphy.

Music Button: Modest Mouse, “It Always Rains on a Picnic”, from the CD Sad Sappy Sucker, (K records)