October 1983, I was a senior in high school. I was waiting for graduation the following May.

I had planned on joining the NAVY after graduation. I had already spent a couple of years in a group called the Sea Cadets it was kind of like ROTC.

Well the point of this story.    Every fall we got out of school for a class trip to the Tulsa State Fair. I always enjoyed this I enjoyed the carnival rides and exhibitions but I really liked the SIDESHOW. This was where you could see the strange & unusual. There was always the talker outside the tent who would tell you about the wonders & amazement on the inside.

This is where I saw a magician named Doc. he performed some little tricks making things appear and disappear. I also met an older black man named POP-EYE who could pop his eyes out his head where they really bugged out. I also met Priscella the Monkey Girl a lady with excessive body hair. There was an ELECTRIC GIRL who would stand on a platform and light torches with her finger tips and tongue and also light up light tubes. I also met The Alligator Man. His name was Emmett; he was the husband of the Monkey Girl.

The one attraction that really affected me "The Man with Two Faces". This gentleman who was normal in everyway except the right side of his face was 4 to 5 times larger than the left.

He explained about his disorder and gave the name of it also. The name was NEUROFIBROMATOSIS this was the first time I had ever heard this word. His name was Robert Melvin http://www.phreeque.com/robert_milwin.html

I always seemed to hang around the sideshow because I was just drawn to it and I like to perform magic myself also, I always got run off from the tent.

Now let’s jump ahead a couple of weeks. I got out of school early one week to make a trip to Oklahoma City in order to get a physical to join the NAVY. My Navy recruiter puts me on a bus to OKC. I arrive in OKC and I'm put in a motel for the night. The next morning I get a wake-up call and get ready to go and get my physical. I arrive at the place I'm supposed to be with hundreds of other guys and a few girls. I go thought the usual physical stuff including turn your head and cough etc. etc. I also have a one-on-one with a Dr. Savage. YES, that was his name. He starts to ask me various questions. One on the questions is '"What do I know about the little brown spots (what I was always told were birth marks) and a couple of little bumps I had were?" I told him what my Dr. had told me. It was just extra pigmentation and the bumps were nothing to worry about. He just looks at me and shakes his head.

He says that one word I had only heard a few weeks before, NEUROFIBROMATOSIS.

He goes on and tries to explain to me more about it. He tells me there is nothing that can be done and ask if I had ever heard of the "ELEPHANT MAN". I tell him, yes. He continues to tell me it is the same thing (at this time it was a common belief). I ask him again if He was sure nothing could be done? He tells me the only thing I could do was go home and wait to die. Yes, he told me to go home and wait to die.

I went home told my family and recruiter. I had surgery on my left hand to remove the growths on it. I did this in hopes to get another physical from different Doctors and still get in the navy. Well this didn't work.

I went on to college and received an A.A. in Theatre Arts and also a B.A.

I worked in theatre off and on while in school a little after graduation.

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  Popeye Snap Wyatt circa 1950

  2 Faced Man Snap Wyatt circa 1950

  Knotty Banner Painted for Jerry by Mark Frierson