1- Richmond, VA, 2010. Sixty-four years old, Harriet worked in a thrift store. “My husband is seventy-six years old, and I will take care of him until the end. He won’t be in any nursing home.”
1- Richmond, VA, 2010. Sixty-four years old, Harriet worked in a thrift store. “My husband is seventy-six years old, and I will take care of him until the end. He won’t be in any nursing home.”
2- Savannah, GA, 2011. Eighty-three years old, he was collecting aluminum cans. “Back when I was small, I wouldn’t think twice about walking a mile to buy a dollar of coal for my family. If my mom told me to do it, I’d just do it. I’d push that cart down the road to get us some coal.”
3- Williston, ND, 2014. She was a bartender at DK’s Lounge and Casino.
4- Wolf Point, MT, 2014. Forty-five-year-old Mervin Running Bear in Stockmans Bar. “This means we’re all equal.” In 2015, Mervin was arrested for stabbing a man in Arlo’s, a bar across the street.
5- Portland, OR, 2014. Thirty-five-year-old Sam in Ming Lounge. Born in Laos, Sam had been a metal fabricator, welder and boat painter. Unemployed, he was homeless.
6- Boston, MA, 2011. Katie: “From the age of twelve, I’ve always wanted to be an animal. I stay outside as much as possible.”
7- Philadelphia, PA, 2013. Chili Willie and his niece in Broad Street Tavern. Chili on fighting in Vietnam: “No, it didn’t freak me out, because I had a job to do.”
8- Jersey City, NJ, 2014. Karaoke at the Golden Cicada Tavern.
9- Columbus, OH, 2014. Forty-three-year-old Monroe in The Patio. Monroe was a carpenter, housepainter, bartender and valet. “Hey, you want to see my girlfriend?”
10- Kennewick, WA, 2014. Pablo in Players: “I have the smallest dick in the world, but women love me, because I know how to listen.”
11- Cheyenne, WY, 2013. Fifty-three-year-old Jim in the Eagle’s Nest. Jim on his nine kids: “I’m still in touch with each of them, and I’ve taken care of all of them.”
12- On an Amtrak train going through Iowa, 2014. Fifty-seven-year-old Dean just got out of jail. “You’ve got to use your brain. I’ve always used my brain. They steal too, so I steal, but I don’t rip off the little guys. I’d never steal from you. I give money to the poor. I’m stealing for Jesus.”
13- Los Angeles, CA, 2013. After an all-night bus from San Francisco, I was wandering around 5th and Broadway at 5 a.m. when I ran into fifty-five-year-old Eric Hurt. Homeless, Eric had played four games in the NFL.
14- Cheyenne, WY, 2013. “You like girls? Go to the Green Door.” He lived at the Pioneer Hotel.
15- Philadelphia, PA, 2011. “I’m Ahuviya Harel, twenty-six years old and female.”
16- Taylor, PA, 2015. Bob Bruno at home.
17- Savannah, GA, 2011. Steven and Megan in their broken-down RV by the side of a creek. They had no heat, electricity or plumbing. Steven worked for sixteen years at the headquarters of Mellow Mushroom Pizza in Atlanta. After studying broadcasting in college, Megan was a whore for three years at the Mustang Ranch in Nevada. Drunk one night, she jumped off a bridge, so became wheelchair bound. Steven: “We fell in love over a Van Morrison song.”
18- Detroit, MI, 2010. People laughed at her as she scrounged for food from a trash can outside the Greyhound station.
19- Allentown, PA, 2015. He is a veteran of Desert Storm. “Immigrants used to come here, but they came to achieve the American Dream, correct? The Muslims came also, but they didn’t come to change the laws of the land. Now, they want to change the laws, just as the gays are doing. If the Muslims don’t eat pork, you must cater to them. And the LBGT, the gays, since they want same-sex marriage, every state must cater to them.”
20- Collingswood, NJ, 2013. Seeing me take photos at a train station, Sergeant Rambo came over, so I snapped him. “Hey, you look pretty good!” I grinned. “I’ve always been photogenic,” he responded before telling me to beat it.