“I was born in Milwaukee in 1939 which makes me a World War Two baby. I love books and I spend most of the day reading. My parents made me read all the time. I fell in love with books. I had a set of Dickens’s books which I lost at some point. I wish I had them. They’d be of good use at this point in my life. I loved comic books too. My favorite one was Pogo. He was an opossum that lived in the swamps of Georgia with other animal friends. The odd thing is that I also grew up eating opossums. When the 1940s came around, most of the big game was gone so we hunted opossums instead. I was hesitant at first but with hunger, anything becomes edible. They taste like fishy chicken. It was odd since I grew up liking Pogo.
“I left home at seventeen and moved to Texas. One of the highest honors in my life was graduating from basic Air Force training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Immediately following graduation, I went back home and saw that my home was a disaster. My family was fighting all the time so I left again. I decided on California for its climate and terrain. This place is like no other. Once here, I continued as an Air Force reserve for eight years. But don’t worry, I didn’t kill anyone for the government. I’m glad I never had to come to it.
“After that, I got into show business. I met some people and got introduced to Sid and Marty Krofft. I was hired and trained by them. I became a Puppeteer. I performed a puppet show they created called “Les Poupées de Paris.” We had a 200-seat theater in West Hollywood called PJ’s. I also enjoyed the roadshows. I traveled all over the country and got a chance to perform at the New York World’s Fair. That was special. We had the crowds in our hands. The shows always got packed. It was there that I began to use drugs. Naturally, I stopped working as a puppeteer. But I learned more in those eight years from ’62- ’70 than I ever had after that. I’ll never forget that special time. Becoming vegan helped me get out of drugs. I’m not a vegan anymore, but I’m also not a drug addict either.
“My problem is that I don’t love money. In fifty years none of what I ever did in my life will matter. I often think of the great restaurants I’ve been to here in LA. I would love a nice steak dinner from Musso & Franks. I used to go there regularly. I say that if you have dreams, chase them and don’t let drugs take you. For all you young people, you’ll be surprised how much your life will change in a lifetime.”
*David lives under the 101 Fwy next to Placita Olvera. He often thinks of his puppeteering days. He loves to drink coke and listen to Beethoven.
Henry Lara, author of the acclaimed Instagram series ANGELENO HEART, is a writer-at-large with LAMonthly.org. He is the author and photographer of this story. He can be reached at mrlara0704@gmail.com
