Michael Hebert aka Michael X aka X aka Clorox
Michael Hebert aka Michael X aka X aka Clorox was a mythical downtown NYC sprite with just the right notes of vinegar and honey. As legend has it, he ran away from his small New Hampshire hamlet at the tender age of 17 to gay-friendly New York City in the late 70s.
I first encountered him in Atlanta when he was visiting a mutual friend and a few years later serendipitously ran into him at Washington Square Park soon after my initial arrival to the Big Apple. He was an outsider always (even in the LGBTQIA community) because he was a true original. As he struggled for his own independence and strength in the midst of disregard, Michael was full of inspirational compassion for the marginalized in our community and others.
From the moment of our Washington Square reunion, we were inseparable (him guiding me into the subterranean depths of the NYC underworld of art, dance clubs, fashion, and sex) at a time where these elements mixed fluidly in the city that never slept.
Michael X worked (one of his many gigs to survive) on the lights during the day at Paradise Garage — the club that changed all of us who underwent the dreaming magic from the DJ shamanistic skills of Larry Levan. For ‘X style’ adventure he’d squirrel four subway tokens for both of us to tube travel to a destination point unknown, get off to explore where we’d landed for hours and return to our point of origin.
X died of AIDS in 1991 leaving a legacy of impact on my life (artistic and principled) that I’d never know — had it not been for our connection and the surrogate family we found and created together. I see him almost every day as I walk along the NYC streets.”