Berry Perry, the Magic City's beloved peanut salesman, has died of apparent natural causes, authorities said. He was 62.

Perry, who had cerebral palsy and was wheelchair bound, was found dead Tuesday morning in his north Birmingham apartment. Perry recently said he had been hospitalized for heart problems, but was looking forward to moving forward with his therapy and said he was feeling well.

"I work for money and I save money... You don't take nothing from nobody," Perry said. He was most known in the community for selling bags of peanuts for one dollar, and was affectionately known as "B.P.," "Speedy," or "Mr. Perry" to his many friends and customers.

Perry was born with the disorder, and was in a wheelchair for most of his life. He had no control of his legs or one of his hands, and depended on his electric wheelchair for mobility. He carried his personal items and peanuts in a plastic bucket strapped around his neck with a cord.

Every weekday, Perry would leave his house and catch the bus to the new Peanut Place off Morris Avenue. He bought his peanuts and headed downtown to the Jefferson County Criminal Courthouse building, where he would sit beneath his favorite tree outside and sell peanuts.

Perry had dozens of close friends, including the judges, judicial assistants, and attorneys he saw daily coming in and out of court. When it was cold outside, Perry would sit inside the building near the security line. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies who work in the front of the courthouse always welcomed him in.

In the afternoons, Perry rode to the city's Southside to talk with his friends at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and finish his errands. Perry always tried to maintain his independence, only having nurses come daily to bathe him and change his clothes.

Last year, Perry was attacked and robbed in his apartment by a man who was living with him at the time. That case is pending in court. Several years ago, Perry suffered another attack that left him in the UAB Intensive Care Unit for days.

Perry, of Marengo County, was raised with his three brothers by a single mom, Annie Lee Perry. He didn't have a wheelchair until he was about 14, so growing up, he would crawl or hold onto things to get around. Occasionally, his mother or older brothers would carry him.

Annie Perry, who cleaned houses and later worked as a janitor at a school in Linden, tried to get him into school in the 1960s but the board of education in Marengo County wouldn't let him, he said.

"I sat at home all day," Perry said.

While Perry didn't attend school, Annie Perry taught him simple math and how to write his name. He learned to cook, clean house, and bathe himself from his mom and grandmother, Emma Jane Perry. Charles Perry, one of his brothers, taught him how to count and tell time.

Walter Perry, another of Perry's brothers, recently visited Birmingham and saw his brother. He also visited Perry's new apartment in north Birmingham, which Perry moved into earlier this month and was thrilled to show off.

"As he got out he wanted to go out on his own," Walter Perry said. "He can do most everything."

Perry always offered words of wisdom to his many friends across town, but one of his favorite phrases came from his mother: "Don't try to compare yourself with nobody else."

Funeral services will be held February 24 at 12:00 p.m. at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Linden, located at 450 Bethlehem Baptist Church Rd. Visitiation will be at 11 a.m. the same day. A memorial in Bimringham, arranged by many of Perry's close friends, will happen Friday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m. in front of the Jefferson County Criminal Courthouse.