Bob Eckert

Brother Ernie: “I put ya to sleep and I’ll wake ya up.”

A Mexican guy behind me whom I remembered from the night before at the Full Gospel Mission, offered me part of a jalapeno.

Bob Eckert

Rescue mission

After supper we lined up by bed number and were marched upstairs where we stripped, stepped under a scalding hot shower for a few seconds, and climbed into our nightgowns. I got a green flowery one, but the guy in front of me got a pink one. Though they had warned us about no talking or cursing after the lights went out at 9:30, the guys in the bunks around me and I talked about selling plasma.

By Carlos Bey, Jan. 23, 1975 Read full article

"All we care about is getting the dude back to jail."

Bob Eckert

Bounty hunters

“We don’t use ‘snitches.’ Their life expectancy is about 15 minutes. We like to use paid contacts. We just come up to ’em in a bar or some place and slip ‘em a little something, and they stay on our side. They could be anybody — a prostitute, a secretary, a pimp, a janitor."

By Robert Louis, April 17, 1975 Read full article

"We have shag carpets throughout and color television."

Photo by Rick Geary

Home home on the boat

A Spartan-at-heart can live on his 30-foot sailboat and be guaranteed two things—coziness and convenience. Anything at all, whether he wants it or not, is right at his fingertips. One man I know is building a computer on a boat no larger than my clothes closet. As long as he remains pretty much in one position—perfectly prone—he can function perfectly.

By Jacquelynne Garner, Feb. 19, 1976 Read full article

"My two sisters ran away from home, and my brother, after he threw my father through the front window, left to join the Navy."

Morgan Shannon

Runaway

“I ran out the back door and had to climb over the neighbors’ barbed wire fence—they have it to keep dogs out. I cut up my legs and tore the halter dress I was wearing. I ran down the block to a sewage pipe where nobody could see me. I sat on that for about an hour. It started raining, and I was crying and shaking—and bleeding all over the place."

By Judith Lin, March 25, 1976 Read full article

Most anachronists don’t need any prompting. They select an historical period which interests them, and then create a “persona” and a name for themselves.

Photo by Rick Geary

Knights in the park: a lark, a lark

Most anachronists don’t need any prompting. They select an historical period which Interests them, and then create a “persona” and a name for themselves, doing whatever research is necessary to live up to their new identity. For one man the choice was easy. He had a mystical experience in the course of meditation which convinced him that he was the reincarnation of a Norman conqueror.

By Mac Perry, May 27, 1976 Read full article

“La Jolla is the hardest area in town to serve."

Photo by Rick Geary

Paper chase

“I just bought a 1959 Rambler. The other day a guy in a ’59 tow-truck chased me up Fifth Avenue. Quite a race. You should have been there that day. These things happen; it’s frustrating, crazy. I’ve chased turkeys clear to Oceanside."

By Richard Louv, July 29, 1976 Read full article