California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts : True Tales of California Crazies, Crackpots and Creeps

A freewheeling catalog of misfits, eccentrics, creeps, criminals, and failed dreamers, this compendium profiles 45 bizarre personalities who exemplify the Golden State's well-deserved reputation for nonconformity. In the pages, Gold Rush pioneers are revealed as murderous madmen; Hollywood celebrities are shown to be drug-addled sex maniacs; early hippies are just 1950s weirdos; and even seemingly ordinary Californians have a talent for freakish, crazy, and criminal behavior. From frontier lunatic Grizzly Adams, whose head was one massive wound after multiple bear attacks, to __I Love Lucy__ star William Frawley, a racist, misogynist, foul-mouthed drunk, and legendarily awful film director Ed Wood, __California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts__ is a side-splitting look at the people who made California the strangest place on earth. [1] Pioneer Crazies Grizzly Adams: John Adams, Calaveras County Psycho Hooker: Ida Brewer, Sacramento The Geek: Tom McAlear, San Francisco Psycho Politician: David Terry, Stockton/San Francisco/Lathrop Shanghai Chicken: John Devine, San Francisco Voodoo Queen: Mary Ellen Pleasant, San Francisco Elusive as a will-'o-wisp: James Dunham, Campbell First in Flight: Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Grass Valley Crazy Cowboy: C.M. Jones, Sacramento It's a Gas!: Edna Fuller, San Francisco [2] The Rise of Southern California Nutjobs Death by Ostrich: Billy Ritchie, Los Angeles Little Miss Bohemian: Aline Barnsdall, Los Angeles Silent Fall: Larry Semon, Los Angeles In His Sister's Shadow: Jack Pickford, Los Angeles True Square: Aimee Semple McPherson, Los Angeles Grumpy Stooge: Jerome Horwitz, Los Angeles Big Bill: Bill Tilden, Los Angeles The Brat Wagon: Margaret Rowney, Van Nuys Fraidy Cat: Samuel Horwitz, Los Angeles Nature Boy: eden ahbez, Los Angeles Rocket Scientist: Marvel "Jack" Parsons, Pasadena Friday On His Mind: Jack Webb, Los Angeles Genius in Angora: Edward Wood, Los Angeles The Not So Little Rascal: Carl Switzer, Los Angeles 20th Century Nostradamus: Jerome King Criswell, Los Angeles A Brilliant Man: Hermann Schultheis, Los Angeles Lovable Crank: William Frawley, Los Angeles The Rebel: Nick Adams, Los Angeles [3] Only In California The Terror Bandit: Clarence "Buck" Kelly, San Francisco Black and White and Read All over: Harry French, Alturas Big Daddy: Eric Nord, San Francisco/Venice The Educated Idiot: John Russell Crooker, Bel-Air Firebug: Stanford Pattan, Glenn County It's Friday!: William Liebscher, Fairfax, Marin County The Gold Coast Princess: Karyn Kupcinet, West Hollywood Shame on You: Spade Cooley, Willow Springs, Kern County Fleecing the Flock: C. Thomas Patten, Oakland The Grifter: Dorthea Puente, Sacramento Taxed Out: Jim Ray Holloway, Sacramento Savannah Smiled?: Shannon Wilsey, Los Angeles Naked Guy: Andrew Martinez, Berkeley From Russia, With Hate: Nikolay Soltys, Sacramento The Gambler: Frank Gambalie, Yosemite National Park Different Drummer: Jim Gordon, Los Angeles The Panty King: Roy Raymond, San Francisco The Tower of Wooden Pallets: Daniel Van Meter, Sherman Oaks. "They call California the Granola State -- a place where every inhabitant is a fruit, a flake, or a nut. They don't get any fruitier, flakier, or nuttier than the deviants, crackpots, and losers profiled in "California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts." A freewheeling catalog of misfits, eccentrics, creeps, criminals, and failed dreamers, "California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts" profiles 45 bizarre personalities who exemplify the Golden State's well-deserved reputation for nonconformity. "California Fruits, Flakes and Nuts" tells the history that gets cleaned out of respectable history books. In these pages, Gold Rush pioneers are revealed as murderous madmen; Hollywood celebrities are shown to be drug-addled sex maniacs; early hippies are just 1950s weirdos; and even seemingly ordinary Californians have a talent for freakish, crazy, and criminal behavior. From frontier lunatic Grizzly Adams (whose head was one massive wound after multiple bear attacks) to "I Love Lucy" star William Frawley (a racist, misogynist, foul-mouthed drunk) to legendarily awful film director Ed Wood and many more nutjobs and oddballs, "California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts" is a side-splitting look at the people who made California the strangest place on earth"-- Provided by publisher A freewheeling catalog of misfits, eccentrics, creeps, criminals, and failed dreamers, this compendium profiles 45 bizarre personalities who exemplify the Golden State's well-deserved reputation for nonconformity. In the pages, Gold Rush pioneers are revealed as murderous madmen; Hollywood celebrities are shown to be drug-addled sex maniacs; early hippies are just 1950s weirdos; and even seemingly ordinary Californians have a talent for freakish, crazy, and criminal behavior. From frontier lunatic Grizzly Adams, whose head was one massive wound after multiple bear attacks, to I Love Lucy star William Frawley, a racist, misogynist, foul-mouthed drunk, and legendarily awful film director Ed Wood, California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts is a side-splitting look at the people who made California the strangest place on earth. General Fiction