montana/wyoming
I'm sitting in a campsite in Gillette Wyoming. And let me say, a man can get better. This campsite is funny, because its in the middle of the city, right off the highway, with a gigantic gas station on one side and a mexican food restaurant on the other. And right now, I'm using their free wireless internet. Not exactly roughing it.
The night before last, I stayed in Rock Creek, Montana, the home of the Annual Testicle Festival. Every september, Thousands of college partiers flock to this town, which cosists of a bar, a restaurant, and a handfull of houses on ranches, to eat bull's balls. At the bar, I struck up a conversation with what mightbe the only socialist in town (maybe the county). He's the maintenance person for the bar and the surrounding land, cutting grass, cleaning, organizing junk for $6 an hour. He was about 55 years old, and told me stories all night about the 60s and 70s. The conversation really started taking off when we got to movies, and when I learned that he is a shakespeare freak (also probably the only in the county). As I learn more, i find out that he's read EVERYTHING, and whats more, he was accepted to the PhD program at Kent State in the 60's but turned it down because he was pissed off at the world at the time. Oh yeah, and his name is Wolf. But thats not the most crazy thing about this gray-bearded, camo-pants-wearing old guy...
He won a Pulitzer Prize.
Yep, it seems he was tending bar in Kansas City on July 17, 1981 when the Hyatt collapsed, killing 175 people. He was the first on the scene as he called the paper and dictated everything he was seeing. Eventually, the team that the paper sent over to cover the story arrived, the team that ended up winning the pullizer prize. Down in the fine print of the prize under "contributers," you can see his name, and he got a plaque for it with his name.
He was camped out behind the bar, and said that I could set my tent up free for the night. After the bar closed, we went out back and drank beer and talked until 4:30 in the morning. He says if I'm ever in Kansas City, I can go to the bar he used to work at and "Tell the owner Wolf sent you." Do I smell free beer? KC is pretty close to wyoming, right?
The night before last, I stayed in Rock Creek, Montana, the home of the Annual Testicle Festival. Every september, Thousands of college partiers flock to this town, which cosists of a bar, a restaurant, and a handfull of houses on ranches, to eat bull's balls. At the bar, I struck up a conversation with what mightbe the only socialist in town (maybe the county). He's the maintenance person for the bar and the surrounding land, cutting grass, cleaning, organizing junk for $6 an hour. He was about 55 years old, and told me stories all night about the 60s and 70s. The conversation really started taking off when we got to movies, and when I learned that he is a shakespeare freak (also probably the only in the county). As I learn more, i find out that he's read EVERYTHING, and whats more, he was accepted to the PhD program at Kent State in the 60's but turned it down because he was pissed off at the world at the time. Oh yeah, and his name is Wolf. But thats not the most crazy thing about this gray-bearded, camo-pants-wearing old guy...
He won a Pulitzer Prize.
Yep, it seems he was tending bar in Kansas City on July 17, 1981 when the Hyatt collapsed, killing 175 people. He was the first on the scene as he called the paper and dictated everything he was seeing. Eventually, the team that the paper sent over to cover the story arrived, the team that ended up winning the pullizer prize. Down in the fine print of the prize under "contributers," you can see his name, and he got a plaque for it with his name.
He was camped out behind the bar, and said that I could set my tent up free for the night. After the bar closed, we went out back and drank beer and talked until 4:30 in the morning. He says if I'm ever in Kansas City, I can go to the bar he used to work at and "Tell the owner Wolf sent you." Do I smell free beer? KC is pretty close to wyoming, right?
posted by Kyle at 9:49 AM
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