"I originally met Capt. Don in the mid-fifties when I was tattooing down on The Pike in Long Beach, California. He came to the west coast that winter, or as they say in show talk, "in the off season." He'd been out that season with the Clyde Beatty Circus Side Show eating fire and doing a little talking out on the bally. I could tell right away, way back then, that he was a real showman just by the way he carried himself, and his love for it.
These few words are just a teaser because I'm not a writer, and Capt. Don's story has been written before. In fact, a few issues back, Skin and Ink Magazine did a great feature article about Capt. Don. In the near future Madame Chinchilla will be releasing a book all about his life. All I want to say here is 'Rest in peace, my old friend. You were a real trooper."
