Folks come face to face with a Spoleto mystery

There is a mysterious guy whose image graces the windows of nearly every store and restaurant on King Street.

Not Bruce Springsteen or Sylvester Stallone. But he's famous enough to rate two billboards 31 feet wide by 45 feet tall on the sides of Gaillard Auditorium.

Hint: He's also on the program books for Spoleto Festival USA events that start Friday, and he's coming to town.

Passersby at the corner of Wentworth and King streets in front of Sermet's Corner restaurant had trouble identifying the man pictured on the official Spoleto USA poster.

Larry and Louise Heroux of Murrells Inlet, who had come for the Spoleto Festival, shook their heads with puzzled looks on their faces, although Louise said, "I think he looks like Rocky Balboa."

Her husband nodded in agreement.

West Ashley resident Brian Pippen, who is working on his master's degree in business administration at The Citadel, said, "He does look familiar, and I think I've seen him someplace, but I really haven't a clue unless it's Jack White of the White Stripes."

In a terrific hurry on her lunch break, Buffy Davis commented, "It actually looks a lot like a guy I used to know." But she preferred not to give his name.

"I think it's Bruce Springsteen," said Ben Yoo, a recent graduate of the University of Louisville Medical School who is a physician here.

Mount Pleasant resident George Libentis said, "It looks like my friend Paul Kitchen," and pointed to the guy next to him.

Gary Parenteau of Rhode Island, visiting here with his girlfriend, just nodded his head and wouldn't venture a wild guess.

Sporting a designer suit, Drew

Heinold of Mount Pleasant stood for a while, thoughtfully staring at the poster.

"Is this someone famous?" he asked. When told it was a famous classical musician, he said, "Well I should know that because I once took a musical appreciation course when in college at the University of Delaware in the '80s."

Told the correct answer, Heinold said, "I'm glad you told me because my parents are in town for the Spoleto Festival and my dad asked me yesterday who that was. I told him I would try to find out, and now I know!"

While most people didn't guess, one passerby who declined to give his name yelled, "I think it looks just like George Bush!"

For the record, of the 21 people questioned, no one guessed right.

It is, of course, Philip Glass, considered one of the most influential composers of modern times, whose new music theater piece "Book of Longing" will make its American premiere during the Spoleto Festival USA. The performing arts festival, along with the city's outreach festival, Piccolo Spoleto, runs for 17 days and includes opera, dance and music.

Glass will play keyboard for the work based on legendary poet and singer Leonard Cohen's recently published poetry collection.

The official Spoleto poster image is taken from a mural-like portrait done by celebrated painter, photographer and printmaker Chuck Close, who titled the work, "Large Phil Fingerprint/Random (1979)." It is considered an outstanding example of fingerprinting, one of Close's most innovative techniques, in which he inks his thumb and forefinger and presses them to the canvas to achieve a subtle range of grays.

Close, whose artwork was recently auctioned in New York at a fundraiser for $80,000, and Glass have been friends for 40 years.

Reach Dottie Ashley at dashley@postandcourier.com or 937-5704.