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In response to the post How to Be a Local Character, mental_floss readers contributed many names of characters who found fame in cities across the country and around the world. Some of these fascinating people have a strong presence on the internet, carrying their notoriety to a greater audience. Here are seven of them.
1. The Duck Lady
Ruthie the Duck Lady was Ruthie Grace Moulon of New Orleans, Louisiana. She was born in 1934, and after attending kindergarten, never went to school. Instead, she walked or roller-skated the streets of New Orleans followed by the ducks she raised. Ruthie’s family helped create the persona of the Duck Girl and promoted her notoriety. She sold postcards of herself for a quarter or three for a dollar, never understanding why her pricing scheme didn’t make sense. The Duck Lady was a regular at French Quarter bars beginning in the 50s. She met a sailor named Gary Moody who became a pen pal, although Moulon couldn’t read or write. She considered herself engaged to Moody, and would sometimes wear a wedding gown on her bar rounds. Moulon had a large circle of friends who made sure she had a place to stay and her basic needs taken care of. The Duck Lady died on September 6th, 2008.
2. DJ Nitetrain
Boston, Massachusetts has DJ Nitetrain, who spins music, sometimes music only he can hear, as he entertains people on Boston’s commuter trains. His real name is Jerry Holloman, born in 1964. His passions are riding trains and roller coasters. Holloman’s dream is to someday take a cross-country train trip. See more at his MySpace page.
3. Blanket Man
Ben Hana of Wellington, New Zealand is better known as Blanket Man because he wears only a loincloth and a blanket. He has been a homeless resident of Wellington since 2001 and says his dress (or lack of it) is a religious gesture to the Māori sun god Tama-nui-te-rā. Hana has been arrested many times, often for marijuana possession. In late 2008, a judge ordered him to start wearing underpants after an arrest for indecent exposure. A documentary about Hana, Te Whanau O Aotearoa – Caretakers of the Land, is available online in four parts. Image by Jubalj.
4. Zanta
David Zancai is known to the citizens of Toronto, Ontario as Zanta. He does pushups wearing only shorts, boots, and a Santa Claus hat. In 2000, Zancai suffered injuries from a 25-foot fall. He spent time on life support and in a coma, then worked hard to build his body back up, mainly by doing pushups. He receives a disability check due to his injuries. Now he does thousands of pushups every day. He first wore a Santa Claus hat to amuse his daughter at a custody hearing, but Zancai was thrown out of court when he refused to remove the hat. See a documentary film called Zanta: The Movie. Image by Matt O’Sullivan.
5. Shaky Jake
Shaky Jake Woods was a busker in Ann Arbor, Michigan for 34 years. He wore a three-piece suit, hat, and dark sunglasses while playing guitar and telling tall tales on the downtown streets. Woods’ guitar was often out of tune and the guitar had missing strings, but the people of Ann Arbor loved him. He received free breakfast from a local diner and often free lunch at various restaurants. Shaky Jake was 82 years old when he died in 2007. Watch a video about Shaky Jake.
6. Leslie Cochran
Leslie Cochran is the most famous local character in Austin, Texas. Cochran is a former truck driver from Florida who is now a cross-dresser and homeless advocate. He ran for mayor in 2000, when he collected almost 8% of the vote. His races in 2001 and 2003 were less successful. He can be seen around town wearing pantyhose and high heels. See more pictures at his MySpace page.
7. Radio
James Robert Kennedy is better known as Radio around Anderson, South Carolina -and the rest of the world, thanks to the 2003 movie about him, in which he is portrayed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. Kennedy was in an auto accident at age five that left him brain-damaged. He attended school at TL Hanna High School, but could not read or write. In fact, he is still attending at age 61. Kennedy developed a friendship with coach Harold Jones and the various athletic teams, who consider him good luck. Jones became a father figure to Kennedy, a relationship that continues after Jones’ retirement. The school website has a page dedicated to Kennedy that says,
He has a permanent smile on his face. He is never without his ability to shake hands and hug necks. He returns exponentially whatever love is given to him. And here the irony rests. He gives back much more than he has received.
In 2005, the South Carolina General Assembly honored Kennedy and Jones with a resolution commending their inspirational lives.
This post was inspired by the news that Popcorn Sutton, the East Tennessee moonshiner featured in the previous post, committed suicide on March 16th. He was to report to prison on the 20th. Speculation is that the sentence and his recent diagnosis of cancer led Sutton to fill his car with exhaust fumes which caused his death.
Other posts in this series:
How to Be a Local Character: 5 Basic Examples had characters from Memphis, New York City, St. Petersburg, FL, Lexington, KY, and Maggie Valley, NC.
9 Wonderful Local Characters featured folks from Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, St. Louis, St. Cloud, MN, and Adelaide, Australia.
7 More Unforgettable Local Characters has colorful characters from Peoria, IL, San Marcos, TX, New Haven, CT, Wheeling, WV, Ocean City, MD, Omaha, NB and Montreal.
6 of Your Favorite Local Characters profiles people you’ve seen in Seattle, Austin, Madison, WI, Jacksonville, NC, and one you are too young to have ever met from San Francisco.
Comments (53)
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Having ties to Birmingham (AL. that is), I thought the Batmobile man would have made your list. He’s been gone for a while now, but his car is back in the news recently.
posted by David on 3-26-2009 at 8:29 am
David, I personally have no ties to Birmingham, but he will go on the list! I have dozens more people to check out.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-26-2009 at 8:47 am
I was at a party a couple of years ago with Zanta. I tried to talk to him but he was too interested in doing pushups.
posted by Trevor on 3-26-2009 at 9:05 am
That was a pretty interesting post/list.
It would be nice to see the Tuba Man though (Seattle).
posted by Rikki on 3-26-2009 at 9:26 am
I missed it the first time around when you asked for local characters, but I do have one: Baton Bob. He used to live in St. Louis and would walk by the school where I worked. A middle aged black man in fabulous costumes (like a wedding dress), marching and twirling a baton. He lives in Atlanta now.
posted by Toyouke on 3-26-2009 at 9:37 am
I thought Madison, WI’s Piccolo Pete (alternatively known as Piccolo Man) would make the list.
He hangs out on the library mall decked out from head to toe in blaze orange (occasionally his giant beard is dyed orange as well) and just plays the piccolo. Occasionally he’s involved in lawsuits with local businesses who find his instrument irritating and high pitched.
Probably about once or twice a Halloween, I see someone dressed up as him
posted by Kevin on 3-26-2009 at 10:06 am
In my hometown of Marquette, Michigan, there is a man who permanantly lives in a shelter that walks around town with a notebook and a pen. He continually writes the name “Suzie Hayworth” on the paper all day, or at least the story goes. Everybody knows him, and everybody has seen him, but it seems nobody knows his backstory…
posted by Ophelia on 3-26-2009 at 10:11 am
When I was a teenager there was a woman who hung around Trappers Alley (Greektown) in Detroit. Mr friends and I always saw her sitting alone; talking to herself. We called her the general because she wore about 40 different military type medals on her jacket. Wonder what ever happened to her?
posted by Karen on 3-26-2009 at 10:52 am
DUDE! I can’t believe no one suggested Leslie Cochran of Austin, TX!
He even has his own Wikipedia page!!!
Leslie is a cross-dressing homeless man living in Austin who likes to run for mayor every now-and-again. (How fab is that?)
He hangs out on 6th st, and getting a picture with him is a bit of a holy grail for Austin visitors who know of his story.
A local shop even sells Leslie doll magnets.
So- new list please? With Leslie????
posted by Jessica on 3-26-2009 at 10:58 am
A lot of those people are on my list, but please keep adding more! Jessica, see #6 on today’s post.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-26-2009 at 11:05 am
@Jessica
Did you even READ the whole article? Mr. (Ms??) Cochran is on the list at number 6 . . .
posted by Jonathan on 3-26-2009 at 11:10 am
I used to see DJ Nitetrain a lot when I lived in Boston, but didn’t know his name or anything — he’s really entertaining to watch, and I always wished I could hear the grooves that were playing in his head, because he totally works it out!
posted by mags on 3-26-2009 at 11:15 am
In Rochester, NY, years ago, there was a woman people called “Trash Can Annie” because she would rummage through trash cans looking for food and clothing and other things. When she died, she left a multi-million dollar estate.
posted by Amy D on 3-26-2009 at 11:29 am
There is a homeless guy in Boone, NC who is infamous in this area. The rumor is that he was a former professor who made a bet with another professor – he bet that he could live for weeks as a homeless person. After that experience, he decided the life was for him, so he quit his job and now lives on the streets. He is obviously schizophrenic, or something, because he spends most of his time having very elaborate conversations with himself. He is also highly intelligent – you can often find him in the university’s library, doing research. He has made a business of street selling – he picks flowers from campus and sells them on King St. He also writes poetry and short stories and sells them to the people in Boone. I have purchased several of his pieces – he has written thousands over the years.
posted by Jessica on 3-26-2009 at 11:31 am
Go old school and include Emperor Norton of San Francisco. Though he died about 100 years ago, his story is incredible. He basically went mad and declared himself Emperor of the USA. The people of San Fran pretty much went with it, including buying him new uniforms when his old ones got tattered.
Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral. Even today, people are fighting for renaming the Bay Bridge after him.
posted by erak on 3-26-2009 at 11:37 am
My hometown of Missoula, Montana had a couple local characters, but the best-loved has to be Tommy the Leprechaun.
He was a small man with a big shaggy beard and a bright green suit. He made balloon animals for children (donations NOT accepted as payment), sometimes sold creatures made out of aluminum cans, and passed out ‘Free Wish’ cards and wished a ‘phantasmagorical day’ to anybody who stopped to talk to him.
He wasn’t crazy or anything (or if he was, he was very high functioning) — just very eccentric! He slept in a riverside park most often, but as he got older he qualified for HUD housing and got off the street though he still kept up his leprechaun gig.
I linked an article about him on my name, it’s a lot more interesting than my summation here.
posted by Katie on 3-26-2009 at 11:37 am
Don’t forget the Brown Twins in San Francisco, those old ladies always dress up so fancy and are an SF landmark.
posted by John on 3-26-2009 at 11:49 am
I’m so happy Leslie is on here. The minute I saw this list, I immediately scrolled down to see if he was on there. EVERYONE in Austin knows who Leslie is.
posted by Allison on 3-26-2009 at 11:55 am
I’ve got two from a brief period of living in San Francisco:
1) There’s the Bush Man, who hides behind bushes (occasionally, he brings his own!) and ambushes tourists along Fisherman’s Wharf. Then, for some reason, demands money. As if people will pay after being scared…
2) Then there’s the Pink/Geisha Lady in Santa Cruz. It’s a cross-dressing man who walks very, very slowly down the street, often with an umbrella and facepaint. Has a somewhat scandalous past, from what I hear…
posted by Angie on 3-26-2009 at 12:00 pm
Eagle Lady – Homer, Alaska.
posted by Tasia on 3-26-2009 at 12:21 pm
Eagle Lady – Homer Alaska
posted by Tasia on 3-26-2009 at 12:23 pm
Also in SF, the schizophrenic guy with the nonsense sign who appears at *every* event. But yeah to the bushman.
posted by Matt on 3-26-2009 at 12:46 pm
WOW!! When I saw the title of this article, the first thing that ran through my mind was Ruthie the Duck Lady. I a native of the New Orleans and didn’t realize that she was recognized outside of the area. And lo and behold she is listed first. There are several other “characters” from New Orleans that may interest you.
Great post!!
posted by Michael on 3-26-2009 at 12:50 pm
In Boston, in addition to DJ Nitetrain, there is also Mr. Butch. Butch was a homeless guy with long dredlocks who was a fixture in the greater Allston/Brighton area, sometimes venturing as far east as Kenmore Square or even over to the Berklee College of Music. If you lived in Allston/Brighton or went to school in the Back Bay section of Boston, you knew Mr. Butch.
Unfortunately, Mr. Butch was killed in a traffic accident almost two years ago. Click my name for a link to his obituary from the Boston Globe
posted by Jonathan on 3-26-2009 at 1:30 pm
Glad to see ZANTA on here.
Often he would start crossing the street and stop and do pushups until the crosswalk sign changed. I don’t know if he was sponsored but he usually had Goldenpalace.com written on his back in huge letters.
Last I heard he was banned from the city
posted by Logic on 3-26-2009 at 1:34 pm
Make sure you get Disco Ernie from Terre Haute, Indiana.
posted by Bret on 3-26-2009 at 1:40 pm
Totally have to do Bush Man from SF.
You can’t bring your tourist friends to SF without tricking them into being scared by Bushman.
posted by NateJ on 3-26-2009 at 1:40 pm
Popcorn was from Haywood County, NC and had recently resided in east Tennessee, where he died.
posted by Kim on 3-26-2009 at 1:52 pm
This was before my time, but Silver Spring, Maryland actually has an alleyway and sculpture bust honoring a local character named Norman Lane, who lived there from the mid-sixties until he died in the late eighties. You can find pictures of the bust and transcriptions of the plaque if you google his nickname: “The Mayor of Silver Spring.”
posted by Natalie on 3-26-2009 at 2:59 pm
Also in Toronto is Jesus Guy, who stands at Yonge and Dundas. Sometimes he stands on a corner, sometimes he walks around the crosswalks/scramble and he yells, “JEEEEESUS!” or “PRAISE JEEESUS!” really often, and deafeningly loud. He also hands out pamphlets. Linked to him in my name!
PS: I think he’s fairly new, but I can’t be sure because I only started going downtown regularly two or three years ago.
posted by Kat on 3-26-2009 at 3:02 pm
Thanks so much for posting about Shakey Jake!! I got my undergrad from U of M, and I miss seeing him roaming the streets with his guitar case. RIP, you are greatly missed!
posted by Stephanie on 3-26-2009 at 3:30 pm
I agree with Rikki that the Tuba Man (from Seattle) should be in the next installment.
posted by Zoe on 3-26-2009 at 3:34 pm
ah… Blanket Man… He’s been a no-show on the streets these past months, but looks like he’s back after seeing him this morning at his usual spot.
Certainly one of the more interesting characters in Wellington.
posted by Nick on 3-26-2009 at 3:35 pm
From Memphis via the planet Zambodia and currently residing in Florida, there’s the one ond only Prince / King / Saint Mongo. Just google “Prince Mongo” for more than you’ll ever need, or want, to know.
posted by Drew on 3-26-2009 at 3:47 pm
What about “The Zombie,” he’s a homeless man who lives around the 32nd St Naval base in San Diego. And yes, he was called the Zombie before zombies were cool. He’s noted for appearing out of nowhere and playing with knives on train tracks. Sometimes you can find him by trolley stations with oranges and empty Twinkie boxes.
posted by Erin on 3-26-2009 at 3:54 pm
A definite local character in Winnipeg, MB, is Dancin’ Gabe. He is a sports fan with a mental disability, and he started dancing to the music in between plays at Jets games. He started doing it so often he was called dancing gabe and the name stuck. You can go to any professional sports game in Winnipeg and chances are he’ll be there, dancing in the stands. A great local character and a really nice person. You should add him in the next article.
posted by D Hue on 3-26-2009 at 3:58 pm
Also in Seattle, there’s a guy who walks around Greenlake with a vest that says, “Spanish Lessons.” He appears to be a gentle older man who simply spends his days walking with anyone wanting to learn Spanish (for a fee, I presume).
posted by KB on 3-26-2009 at 4:10 pm
The man that appears at San Francisco/Oakland protest marches (and other public events) is called the 12 galaxies guy because of the first line on his sign (the other lines change occasionally and invoke various sci-fi and conspiracy themes). It is always black posterboard with pasted florescent and metallic lettering. He wears a grey suit and dark sunglasses.
There was actually a Twelve Galaxies nightclub named after him that lasted for awhile and occasionally people will dress up as him for Halloween – according to one friend, he knew the guy had become a certified “character” when people started dressing up like him and other people knew who it was supposed to be.
He never speaks, just quietly stands with his sign. He always knows where to go to get filmed by the various news crews – during the anti-war protests in 2003, I saw people search for him during the protests because he always seems to know exactly where to stand to get filmed for the news.
I wasn’t sure he could talk until I heard a reporter from a new station greeted him by name and he returned the greeting and then chitchatted with him. I’ve seen members of the Oakland city council acknowledge him as well.
I haven’t been to many protests lately but have seen him on the news once or twice.
posted by Kathleen Parsons on 3-26-2009 at 5:31 pm
Being from Toronto I’m familiar with Zanta and actually have a few Zanta links that I planned to do something with but left languishing in my “later” file. I’m such a slowpoke.
posted by Nag on the Lake on 3-26-2009 at 6:17 pm
The Goatman of Louisville and beyond… This Gypsy type dude rambled the roads with his herd of goats for years… My mom talked about being let out of school to see him in the 1950’s and he was still around when I was in school in the 1970’s. Stinky is a one word description! He is dead now but his legend grows… wiki it.
posted by nt4thBook on 3-26-2009 at 7:13 pm
I graduated from St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, MN and they have the St. Cloud Superman. It is an ex-construction guy who dresses up as Superman and stands on the corner of the busiest street in front of the Dairy Queen. He was just an oddity at first, but now he’s infamous in the city. He’s kind of burly but he still wears the blue tights and red underwear. I’m sure that it helps that he’s a massive jerk and is rude to everyone. Most people avoid him…
posted by theWalk on 3-26-2009 at 7:36 pm
In Nashville we have “Chocolate Thunder” who has often been recognized as one of the county’s best street performers. Just stroll down Second Avenue and you can’t miss him.
Okay, other people in the DC area back me up on this one. Don’t know if he’s still around, but in the mid to late 90’s there was a rather flamboyant political activist and occasional mayoral candidate who had legally changed his name to “Luke Sissyfag” You can guess what his principal issue was.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 3-26-2009 at 7:56 pm
And what about downtown San Diego’s topless Native American guy? He just stands there. Anyone know who he is?
posted by Erin on 3-26-2009 at 8:56 pm
Bikerfox- Tulsa
enough said.
posted by Angie on 3-26-2009 at 11:56 pm
I was quite surprised to not see Baton Bob on the list. We miss him dearly in Saint Louis, ever since the people who organized the St. Patrick’s Day parade wouldn’t let him lead the way in his majorette uniform. . .
posted by Patrick J. on 3-27-2009 at 12:11 am
Don’t know if he’s been mentioned, but the Umbrella Man (or Pink Man) in Santa Cruz, CA has a lot of rumors surrounding him, always met with a smile and a nod. He’s easily searchable and has a MySpace put up for him by others. He dresses all in mismatched pink clothes, carries an umbrella, he walks very, very slowly, and his real name may be Robert. There’s no telling.
posted by Laurel R on 3-27-2009 at 1:55 am
I’m just thankful to see Leslie wearing more than a thong in the provided picture.
posted by Eric on 3-27-2009 at 9:35 am
I thought I posted it up on the last one but couldn’t find it.
King Love of Tallahassee, FL.
He had a HUGE following around here..used to be a doctor, turned homeless man preaching about the power of love, complete with crown, robe, and specter. Google him, he has several tribute sites up still.
posted by jenakle on 3-27-2009 at 10:09 am
Ophelia!!
i have to say it : say yah to da U.P. eh!
i’m from houghton! we used to have Acid Andy, and he’d live in the skywalks in the winter time. now he’s cleaned up and living in a group home, so far as i’ve heard.
posted by em on 3-28-2009 at 7:07 am
Austin also had Jennifer Gale, a transgendered homeless person who passed away last year while sleeping on the street. She would sing songs at the City Council meetings, ran for tons of local offices, and even got 38% of the vote in her run for school district VP. (She has a wikipedia)
posted by LP on 3-31-2009 at 7:51 pm
I can’t find a picture of Dante himself right now, but he was well known as the Bethel, CT’s UFO expert. He’d sit at the local train station in a bomber jacket that said “UFO expert” across the back telling everybody about the flying saucer.
But was even better known for having the giant sign downtown welcoming extraterrestials. I found a Flickr set of those. It’s listed in the website link above
He’s also appeared in quite a few documentaries over the years since the UFO he saw allegedly left traces behind.
posted by H.C. on 4-3-2009 at 2:39 pm
radio (james robert kennedy) was not in an auto accident at age 5 that left him brain damaged. he was born that way and it’s genetic because his father and his younger brother who lives with him has the same thing.
posted by radiohead on 8-6-2009 at 5:32 pm
go ben the blanket man!!!
posted by Pandux on 11-8-2009 at 7:35 pm