Opening Day
Coors Field, Denver

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RF Radiation

I very rarely,

if ever,

request further clarification…

One tries to comply,

with someone

that actually should matter…

Knee-jerk reactions,

everything,

all the time.

It just doesn’t make much sense…

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Sunday Sherry

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Edgar "Bad News" Wallace

It was an exciting and wonderful spring night in 1978 Las Vegas.

Electricity and dust was in the cool nighttime air as well as in a huge bindle of such, located back in my blue Dodge van, parked in a dimly lit area of Caesars Palace back lot.  

Rick, a good friend and associate in various crimes of wit and deception, was joining me on this desert adventure.

Employed by competing Arizona newspapers, Rick and I had been closely following and photographing a light heavyweight boxer out of Phoenix, Edgar “Bad News” Wallace…

As working press we were often assigned the absolute best seats at any given sporting event. Courtside, it was simply a way of life, most often simply taken for granted as well.

When it came time for any Boxing event, adequate coverage necessitated us stationed and standing ringside. This was both good and bad.

Good as no one other than the ring ref was closer to the action than us;

Bad….the plastic wrap covering the cheese plate was there for a reason.
This close in, there was always a constant airborne spattering of blood, sweat and saliva.

We had been following Wallace for a couple of years, assigned to cover fights for the Sports section, but whenever he fought on our days off, we pulled media credentials for ringside positions.

Edgar’s career was taking off and he was scoring many wins, usually by knock-outs.

These wins were mostly accomplished by inflicting brutal and bloody beatings. His opponents ultimately relieved by unconsciousness and left with uncontrollable muscle twitching, flat on the mat,
in front of hundreds of crazy, screaming, berserk fans.

This April 24^th’s fight at Caesars’s was an important fight for Wallace.
He was matched against Mike Colbert, ranked 4^th in the world.

Earlier that afternoon, we were headed down to the bar and in a back hall off the lobby, bumped into Edgar along with his promoter Steve Eisner. I shook hands with “Bad News”. It was a soft and strange handshake, much like one received from a brain surgeon worried about possible finger damage terminating a career.
It left me with a strange prophetic feeling of impending doom for Wallace.

Rick and I warmed up at the casino bar for a few hours,
quick stop at the Dodge van, finally making our way to the arena hosting the big event.

The event center was packed.
Our hearts pounding, we made our way down to the ring.

The air was charged with excitement and cigar smoke.

The massive crowd of spectators were loud and “Vegas” unruly. It was a crazy ass scene.

We checked in with the ringside officials and verified our credentials;
Edgar was already in the ring warming up, Jerry Lewis and Buddy Hackett seated directly behind us.

Lights dimmed, fighters introduced, scantly clad, almost naked round girls left the ring.
Wallace and Colbert tapped gloves, the battle began.

Colbert connected with machine gun like death blows.
Wallace barely made it back to his corner after the first round.

This was the way it was to be for Wallace for the next five rounds. He was taking such a bloody beating; the Vegas crowd was actually yelling “stop the fight!, stop the fight!”…

A final blow from Colbert connected with the left side of Edgars bloody face…
It was beyond bad news for Wallace, his eye’s rolled back into his bleeding skull,
his body smashed to the mat, his pain ended…

Several months later, back in Phoenix, I caught up with Edgar once again.

He was a grill man at McDonalds…

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ks/Mexico

- photo/John Young

Back Door
22 Hudson Lane

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Billy Carter
Feb 17, 1978

I had an assignment to photograph the younger brother of former US president Jimmy Carter for
Arizona Magazine. That same afternoon, I also enjoyed a couple/three/four beers with him.
Billy was a source of embarrassment during the Carter administration,
losing a run for mayor of Plains, Georgia in '76, launching the ill-fated Billy Beer brand in '77 and culminating in Billygate, after a visit to Libya in '78 unraveled into an influence-peddling scandal,
complete with Senate Hearings and press conferences.
Introduced in 1977, Billy beer saw dismal sales figures while in production,
(but at least, two billion cans were produced!)
Billy Carter was selected as spokesman for the beer because his brother was president and it was widely known that he enjoyed drinking beer.
After the collapse of the Billy Beer venture, he had to sell his home to settle back taxes with the IRS. 
Written on each can were these words of endorsement:
Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America's all-time great beer drinkers - Billy Carter
I had this beer brewed just for me. I think it's the best I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot. I think you'll like it, too.
An acknowledged alcoholic, he got sober in the early 1988 
began concentrating his efforts on trailer park homes before succumbing to pancreatic cancer later that year.
Billy passed on at the age of 51 on September 25, 1988.

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Pigmy Pony
Absinthe Superieure Evening
Morrison

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" Peg "

http://peggybunker.actorwebs.com/index.html

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CORE Gallery
Opening Night
WOW (Wide Open Whatever) Show
Two of my prints made it into the very popular show which runs thru March 1st.
(left) "Tree Face" .... and .... "Newspaper Rock" (right)

http://www.corenewartspace.com

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