Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Question from "Neil of San Diego"

above: 122 Lyon Street, Haight Ashbury

Hello Patty ... I've seen that your site is well thought out....quite an achievement actually.

What happened after Squeaky, Brunner and Charlie first came together at Brunner's place?  I should be more specific in my question. The time frame: Charlie has picked up Squeaky and returns to Brunner's Place. Did Charlie, Brunner, and Squeaky hang together at the Haight (Cole St etc) for several months, when Squeaky first showed up from Venice?

I gather that the three soon ran into Atkins at Lyon Street. Shortly thereafter, they hopped on the bus to go north on a trip to Mendocino. Going south they pick up Krenwinkle. They eventually return to the Haight.Where are they all staying? Where is Krenwinkle staying? What are they doing for money? Hanging out on their renovated bus? What are Squeaky and Charlie up to in the Haight at this time?  Seems like the books I've read gloss over this hole in the early family history...

Is there some "pro" out there who might be able to sort me out on this?

Sincerely,
Neil of San Diego





5 comments:

  1. Real hard question to answer because of the varied - and often vague - accounts. I'm not sure it's possible to find a definitive answer. But what we do know is that they - and not necessarily all together - traveled quite a bit..up to Washington state, Mendocino, San Fran, LA, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. We know they visited Krenwinkel's mother in Alabama and at one point they also visited and stayed with Atkins' father.

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  2. Hi Cielo - Are you able to shed more light on the circumstances of their stay with Atkins' father? When it happened, for how long they stayed, who was present, his thoughts on Charlie? I was under the impression that she didn't have any contact with him by the time she joined the Family so this is interesting to me. If he hadn't already washed his hands of her by that point - or rather, if they hadn't already washed their hands of each other - I think he did by the time of the trials. Van Houten's, Krenwinkel's and Watson's parents appeared willing to support their children even after they realized what they'd done, but it seems Atkins' father was MIA...though it seems he never was what you might call "Father of the Year"...

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  3. From an article in early December 69...

    Miss Atkins’ father, a resident of San Jose, Calif., said over the weekend he blamed himself for his daughter’s plight.

    “I should have been more firm; demanded more,” he said …”I loved her — I still do…she needed help.”

    The father, who did not want to be identified, said Manson and several followers stayed at his home 10 days in September, 1968.

    “I thought they were just a slap-happy bunch of kooks — dumb hippies,” he said.

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  4. It just occurred to me that the Atkins visit was in '68 and not '67, so that was a bit later on.

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  5. Thanks!

    "Slap-happy bunch of kooks" - lol. Almost as funny as when Harold True said, "Them fucking fruitcakes could not pour piss out of a boot, with the bottom written on it."

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