{{short description|American poet}}
'''Deacon Lunchbox''' was the stage name of Atlanta performance artist and poet Timothy Tyson Ruttenber (1950 – April 19, 1992<ref>{{cite news|accessdate=2010-03-19|title=Deacon Lunchbox, 41, A Performance Artist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/22/obituaries/deacon-lunchbox-41-a-performance-artist.html?pagewanted=1}}</ref>). Ruttenber, a construction worker by day, was popular in the Atlanta area for his flamboyant spoken-word performances. He often punctuated each line of his poems by banging an old torpedo casing or metal bucket with a hammer. His onstage props included a chainsaw, and often a bra was part of his costume.<ref>{{cite news|title=Storytime: An Interview with Kelly Hogan |author=Reed, Bobby |publisher=Gimme That Twang! |date=Winter 1998 |access-date=2006-12-21 |url=http://www.kellyhogan.com/articles/reedKelly.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20010128140700/http://www.kellyhogan.com/articles/reedKelly.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2001-01-28 }}</ref> <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: thumb|150px|right|Timothy Tyson Ruttenber (1950-1992) -->
In April 1991, Ruttenber performed live with Bill Taft at the opening night of the "Cartoon Show" at 800 EAST, an arts collective and performance space in Atlanta.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7PStINj8dk Deacon Lunchbox Live at 800 East, April, 1991 pt. 1. (video)] Youtube.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWXbunELKk&list=RDDWWXbunELKk&start_radio=1 Deacon Lunchbox Live at 800 East, April, 1991 pt. 2. (video)] Youtube.</ref>
Ruttenber is credited with giving the Atlanta alternative country music scene of the time the name "The Redneck Underground."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Chance |first=Slim |title='Deacon'-struction of Duality |url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-160575-deacon--struction-of-duality |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=Creative Loafing |language=en|date=November 23, 2005}}</ref>
Ruttenber died in an auto accident in 1992, along with Rob Clayton and Robert Hayes of the Atlanta group The Jody Grind. The three were riding in a rented cargo van near Greenville, Alabama, at the time of the accident, when a drunk driver crossed the I-65 median and struck them head-on.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=When the Fire Broke Out |url=https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-91-winter-2015/when-the-fire-broke-out |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=Oxford American |language=en}}</ref>
He appeared in ''Words in Your Face'', a episode of the show ''Alive from Off Center'' about spoken-word performers,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Words in Your Face |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468582/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=www.imdb.com}}</ref>reciting his poem "Lewis Grizzard, I'm Callin' You Out."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alive from Off Center - Words in Your Face - TheTVDB.com |url=https://thetvdb.com/series/alive-from-off-center/episodes/8555855 |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=thetvdb.com}}</ref>
==Film appearances== *Alive from Off Center - Words in Your Face (1991) PBS TV Episode *Benjamin Smoke (2000) *Coffeehouse: Atlanta's Underground Poets (1992) Documentary of Atlanta's Spoken Word scene, containing the last interview with Deacon Lunchbox. *Crash Course in Brain Sodomy (1990) by Kreg Thornley and Brett Lewis. Cameo appearance
==Publications== *Some Different Kinds of Songs (1989) A collection of monologues. Publisher: Drewry Lane Book Makers *The Complete Lunchbox: The Life and Works of Deacon Lunchbox, a Cornucopia of Southern Culture by Robert S. Roarty (Editor), Tim Ruttenber
==Recordings== *Rantin' 'n' Railin' (1990) *An Evening with the Garbageman and Deacon Lunchbox January 24, 1989 (WREK: The Underground Recordings) *The Mother of All Flagpole Christmas Albums (1992)
==Poems== *All I Want is Her Love and a Brand New Harley *Death of an Amway Salesman *I'm Bustin' Down the Road Doin' Sixty *I'm Just an Old Redneck Hippy *Lewis Grizzard I'm Calling You Out *Life in Midtown Atlanta *My Vacations Plans are Ruined *Nadine and Tony *Omni Beer *Quagmire of Skankmud *Yuppie Bastard
==References== <references/>
==External links== * [http://rre.net/Deacon/ A Celebration of Deacon Lunchbox] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231075324/http://rre.net/Deacon/ |date=2006-12-31 }} - audio files and poetry * [https://otherwiseunavailable.blogspot.com/2006/02/theres-drug-sniffing-dogs-at-dollywood.html Different audio files and a write-up]
{{Authority control}}
Category:American male poets