Manson

I felt a little strange when I learned this morning that Charles Manson had died. It’s not like I was a fan of his or anything, or thought him anything less than insane, but Charles Manson has been a part of pop culture since I was something like 12 or 13 and for lack of a better word, he was fascinating. Nowadays cults and violence and mass murder seem to be the norm and things that we think about for a day or two before going back to our lives, but back in 1968 (Vietnam notwithstanding), it wasn’t that way. At least not to my young eyes. 1968 was crushes on girls I’d never talk to, trumpet lessons, Mod Squad and Land of the Giants and the F.B.I. and Gomer Pyle. And when Charles Manson made the news it was like a real live monster in the living room.

So I won’t really miss Charles Manson but the thought that he was dead was just odd.