Maybe it was just an alignment of the stars, but we sure had a slew
of colorful characters inhabiting Kent in those days, 1964 to 1974.
Freddie Palumbo, (I originally identified him as Freddie Salem, a few crossed circuits in my mind!) who was the subject of a James Gang song, would drift into your pad, utter some mystical statement and then seem to vanish into thin air.
Charles Swanson, Don Titto, Andy Anderson, Ted Bliss, and Jim Greathouse were all among the cast of exteme personalities that made life interesting.
Let's hear what you remember.
2 comments:
I can verify that it was Freddie Palombo. I might be spelling his last name wrong. But I distinctly remember that beautiful Italian intense face and the obscure mutterings you are referring to. Did anyone google him??
Also was at the Blind Owl....
I remember Freddie Palumbo. He'd sometimes drop in to see me, I think when I lived at the old Bike Shop. I seem to remember him being around Bergner's Garage when I was there, too- (about winter of '66 maybe). The story was that his parents had been unhappy that he wasn't shaping up into a fine right-thinking replica of themselves, so they had had him put through a series of electro-shock "therapy" treatments. It took away whole sections of his memory, which would account for at least SOME of his often disconnected ramblings. But personally, I think he was just a harmless semi-sociopath, like a lot of us then. He could be really caustic and funny at times, then suddenly he'd fade into a mystical state and seem to be carrying on an internal conversation with himself. I know he REALLY resented the shock treatments and memory loss. He knew he'd been robbed of some vital parts of his life. He was a strange angel, with an intense dark beauty.
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