Brian Rudd (1958-2017), a well-known Sydney boot-polish wallah (shoeshine man), died last week.
He was a regular feature at Central Station, Martin Place and on the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Brian died “early on Thursday (January 5) at a residence in Darlinghurst from a number of ailments, including emphysema, no one could quite believe it.”
Earlier, Brian worked on the streets of Melbourne.
He refused to beg and instead liked to shine shoes and share stories with his customers.
Brian was taken away from his parents, split from his four brothers and moved around many times in different children’s homes.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Sydney’s famous boot-polish wallah Brian told Melbourne's Father Bob Maguire that when he died he wanted his ashes sprinkled in the river Ganga in India.
Now Father Bob is considering of a way he could make Brian’s last wish possible.
