Elliott Smith, Willamette Week, October 29, 2003

The October 29, 2003 edition of Willamette Week, one of two major alt-weekly newspapers in Portland, Oregon, memorializing the life of musician Elliott Smith shortly after his death on October 21, 2003. The paper distributes weekly in boxes across the region for free. 

Elliott Smith was a musician, singer, and songwriter who was an icon of Portland's music scene. Though not from the city, he spent much of his life in Portland. After his death, the local papers eulogized his contribution to Portland and to the world with words, art, and photography. This issue's cover is a photograph of Smith by Tibor Bozi, and the inside pages include a map of Smith's life around the city, quotes from people who knew and worked with Smith, and an illustration by  Paul Solevad.

Much of Willamette Week's archive from this time has yet to be digitized and made accessible to the general public. 

This specific copy was found in a Willamette WeekWillamette Week distribution box across from the paper's newsroom by their then creative director, Mick Hangland-Skill. Walking back from the adjacent grocery store with his lunch in tow, he spotted this tucked into the box's preview window. He brought it back to the newsroom and saw a handwritten note on the paper's cover: “#TBT via #TheBrowLowers”. The hashtag brought up several other found photos of other items some mystery person left for people to discover.