In Harlem, Reflections on the Life of Percy Sutton

clipped from www.nytimes.com In Harlem, Reflections on the Life of Percy Sutton Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times The Apollo Theater paid its respects to Percy E. Sutton on Sunday. Mr. Sutton, an eminent politician, died on Saturday at 89. More Photos > By KAREEM FAHIM and STACEY SOLIE He was hailed as Harlem’s king or its chairman, the eloquent author of some of its prouder moments, the dapper mentor to its sons and daughters. As news of Percy E. Sutton’s death spread on Sunday, the sadness spanned generations and city blocks, from Mr. Sutton’s home on 135th Street to the doorstep of the Apollo, that cultural heart of Harlem that Mr. Sutton jolted to life. “He was a renaissance black man,” said Philip Bulgar, 45, an assistant manager at Manna’s Soul Food Restaurant, summing up a life too rich for anyone to fully recall. That did not stop everyone from trying. “They don’t make too many brothers like that anymore,” Mr. Bulgar said. Mr. Sutton died on Saturday at age 89.