"The Viking of Sixth Avenue" died on September 8 in Munster, Germany. Known as Moondog (the name adopted in 1947 from a former pet who howled at the moon), Louis T. Hardin was 83.

Living in New York City at the time, for years I would pass this monolithic person who would stand silent and motionless at the corner of 54th Street and Sixth Avenue. Dressed in homemade robes, sandals, a flowing cape, a horned Viking helmet and clutching a long spear, I merely dismissed him as just another stre...