Re: OOPS, I did it again!

On Wed, 1 Apr 2026 12:35:11 -0500
Bryan Simmons <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 3/31/2026 7:32 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:
> > dsi1 wrote on 3/31/2026 7:10 PM: =20
> >>
> >> [email protected] <[email protected]>
> >> posted:=20
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> And I'm not ashamed.=C2=A0 I had another pepperoni French bread pizza
> >>> today and it was as yummy as the one I had for brunch on Sunday.
> >>> Mmmmm-mmmm
> >>>
> >>> =F0=9F=98=8B=C2=A0=F0=9F=8D=95
> >>>
> >>> Pepperoni is also tasty shingled on top of cheese of your choice
> >>> before placing that slice of bread on top and making a grilled
> >>> cheese sandwich.
> >>>
> >>> ~ =20
> >>
> >> You can make pizza out of most breads - even a tortilla.
> >> =20
> >=20
> > Tojo, your tortilla pizzas are FAMOUS!
> >=20
> > Soon, people on da mainland will discover them, and they will be=20
> > trending.=C2=A0 Especially in montana.=C2=A0 Lots of Hiwayans there, yo=
ose
> > know.=20
> For some reason that reminded me of this.
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/178007996611
>=20

Rare to find anyone who read or even recalls Brautigan.

One of our most prolific hippy era writers, but a massively disturbed
and self-destructive man.

I particularly enjoyed "The Revenge of the Lawn" and "Sombrero
Fallout".

But the rest of his works were all stirring and highly visual.

A troubled genius, but still a genius:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brautigan

Brautigan was born in Tacoma, Washington,the only child of Bernard Frederic=
k "Ben" Brautigan Jr. (July 29, 1908 =E2=80=93 May 27, 1994), a factory wor=
ker and laborer, and Lulu Mary "Mary Lou" Keho (April 7, 1911 =E2=80=93 Sep=
tember 24, 2005), a waitress. In May 1934, eight months before Richard's bi=
rth, Bernard and Mary Lou separated.

Brautigan said that he met his biological father only twice. But after Rich=
ard's death, Bernard appeared to have been unaware that Richard was his chi=
ld, saying, "He's got the same last name, but why would they wait 45 to 50 =
years to tell me I've got a son?"

In 1938, Brautigan and his mother began living with Arthur Martin
Titland. The couple had a daughter, Barbara Ann, born on May 1, 1939,
in Tacoma. Brautigan said that he had a very traumatic experience when,
at age nine, his mother left him and his four-year-old sister
unattended in a motel room in Great Falls, Montana, for two days.

...

Brautigan was raised in poverty; he told his daughter stories of his mother=
 sifting rat feces out of their supply of flour before making flour-and-wat=
er pancakes. Brautigan's family found it difficult to obtain food, and on s=
ome occasions they did not eat for days. The family lived on welfare and mo=
ved about the Pacific Northwest for nine years before settling in Eugene, O=
regon, in August 1944.

Brautigan drew on his childhood in the poems and stories that he wrote from=
 as early as the age of 12. His novel So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away (1=
982) is loosely based on childhood events, including an incident in which B=
rautigan accidentally shot the brother of a close friend in the ear, injuri=
ng him slightly.

On September 12, 1950, Brautigan enrolled at South Eugene High School. He w=
rote for his high school newspaper, the Eugene High School News. He also pl=
ayed on the school's basketball team. He was 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall =
by the time of his graduation. On December 19, 1952, Brautigan's first publ=
ished poem, "The Light", appeared in the school newspaper. Brautigan gradua=
ted with honors from Eugene High School on June 9, 1953.

After graduation, he moved in with his best friend Peter Webster, and Peter=
's mother Edna Webster became a surrogate mother to Brautigan. According to=
 several accounts, Brautigan stayed with the Websters for about a year befo=
re leaving for San Francisco for the first time in August 1954. He returned=
 to Oregon several times, apparently for lack of money.

On December 14, 1955, Brautigan was arrested for throwing a rock through a =
police station window, supposedly to be sent to prison and fed. He was arre=
sted for disorderly conduct and fined $25. He was committed to the Oregon S=
tate Hospital on December 24, 1955, after police noticed patterns of errati=
c behavior.

At the Oregon State Hospital Brautigan was diagnosed with paranoid
schizophrenia and clinical depression, and was treated with
electroconvulsive therapy 12 times. While institutionalized, he began
writing The God of the Martians, a manuscript of 20 very short chapters
totaling 600 words. The manuscript was sent to at least two editors but
was rejected by both, and remains unpublished.(A copy of the
manuscript was discovered with the papers of the last of those editors,
Harry Hooton, sometime after 1961.

On February 19, 1956, Brautigan was released from the hospital and
briefly lived with his mother, stepfather, and siblings in Eugene. He
left for San Francisco, where he would spend most of the rest of his
life except for periods in Tokyo and Montana.

...

In 1984, at age 49, Richard Brautigan had moved to Bolinas, California, whe=
re he was living alone in a large, old house that he had bought with his ea=
rnings years earlier. He died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum gunshot wound =
to the head. His decomposed body was found by David Fechheimer, a friend an=
d private investigator, on October 25, 1984. The body was found on the livi=
ng room floor, in front of a large window that, though shrouded by trees, l=
ooked out over the Pacific Ocean. Due to the decomposition of the body it i=
s speculated that Brautigan had ended his life over a month earlier, on Sep=
tember 16, 1984, days after talking to friend Marcia Clay on the telephone =
(neighbors heard a loud noise that Sunday while watching an NFL game). Brau=
tigan was survived by his parents, both ex-wives, and his daughter Ianthe.

According to Michael Caines, writing in The Times Literary Supplement,
the story that Brautigan left a suicide note that simply read: "Messy,
isn't it?" is apocryphal. Ianthe Brautigan has confirmed that her
father did not leave such a message.