I was born in Pasadena. My parents were a funny duo. My father was Pennsylvania Dutch; he was a liberal. My mother was a Southern belle, a Bible-thumping Baptist from Texas. My father didn't really trust Southerners. I don't know how they ever hooked up. Every morning at breakfast, we would re-fight the Civil War.

They came to Southern California, because they had this idea that California was this free and open place -- Hollywood and all of that.

Childhood

One of my earliest memories of Southern California was of the Meglin Kiddies. It was a school that tried to turn children into little Shirley Temples. You'd learn to tap dance and speak. They would teach you how to look at the camera and how not to look at the camera. It was awful.

School I went to Pasadena Junior College. I got in with a bunch of strange-o people who were into folk music. This was the '40s. Woody Guthrie was touring the country. Henry Wallace was running for president. But the school was basically run by two groups: the jocks and the girls who wanted to be Rose Queen. The art department was devoted to designing Rose Parade floats. To show you what a phony I am, one of my designs won and they actually built it.

My group of friends was called the Progressive Art Workers. It was made up of people who were interested in the arts. I was investigated by the FBI because of the Progressive Art Workers.

I remember the day that Wallace's vice presidential candidate came and spoke at the school. The jocks beat him up! The frat people applauded. We were horrified.

Me and my buddies, we thought we were real intellectuals, so we decided to beat the draft by joining the National Guard. We figured that all we had to do was show up and give them our name. They'd pay us too. But when the Korean War started up, the first ones they called was the 40th Infantry Division from Southern California. I ignored the notices they sent me, and finally the MPs came and took me away in a jeep. My parents just flipped out. They had a nervous breakdown.

I ended up going over there and things were bad. We replaced the 24th Infantry Division that had just been shot to pieces by the Chinese. They gave us guns and told us to go into these bunkers. I don't want to talk about it.