Unofficial memorial planned for 3/18/10 at Linda’s

Word of the death of a Pike/Pine character spread today after a friend announced via Facebook that the skinny rocker Slats died this afternoon after a long hospital stay. The Stranger’s Line Out blog is also reporting the woman’s Facebook note and people who know the woman confirm that she was close to Slats.

Slats has been a fixture on the Capitol Hill scene for long enough to have developed an urban-legend level following complete with speculation and goofy tributes. Last year, we included him in our discussion of who should be on the Capitol Hill $1 bill.

Of his notoriety, Slats told Wired magazine, “It’s kind of strange when I go in a bar and everyone’s taking a picture of me, or I walk down the street and they’re yelling my name,” says Slats, whose real name is Chris. “I’m just living my life and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?”