George Kotolaris, Seattle Eccentric
George Kotolaris (1929-1990) is remembered in Seattle for two reasons. First, he was notorious for crashing funerals, weddings, anniversaries, parties, and any other event he could get into. Second, he kept a strange record of his life and interests by filing documents with the legal records department of Washington State. Shortandhappy.com explains:
Here are some pictures of George taken around 1978.
George discovered that, due to a quirk of the law, anyone who pays the nominal per-page fee (currently $7) can record anything they want as a "title deed." So George immediately began using this recording system for purposes that were never even envisioned, much less intended, by the county planners who had instituted it.
Beginning in 1968, he and Pansy [his mother] traveled to the courthouse almost every business day with newspaper clippings, church programs and other items they wanted preserved. These early recordings are vague, but they establish some of George's major obsessions: Catholicism, abortion, cremation and urban renewal.
The nature of the recordings changed after Pansy suffered a stroke in the early 70s and was placed in the Columbia Lutheran Nursing Home. The newspaper clippings are replaced by what appear to be letters and notes to whoever will listen, documenting George's struggle to get Pansy out of the nursing home, and asking for help...
As time went on, George's recordings grew more sexually explicit, and officials at the courthouse censored many of them by placing sheets of paper over his text when they filmed it. Because of this, the last years of his life are maddeningly vague.
Beginning in 1968, he and Pansy [his mother] traveled to the courthouse almost every business day with newspaper clippings, church programs and other items they wanted preserved. These early recordings are vague, but they establish some of George's major obsessions: Catholicism, abortion, cremation and urban renewal.
The nature of the recordings changed after Pansy suffered a stroke in the early 70s and was placed in the Columbia Lutheran Nursing Home. The newspaper clippings are replaced by what appear to be letters and notes to whoever will listen, documenting George's struggle to get Pansy out of the nursing home, and asking for help...
As time went on, George's recordings grew more sexually explicit, and officials at the courthouse censored many of them by placing sheets of paper over his text when they filmed it. Because of this, the last years of his life are maddeningly vague.
Here are some pictures of George taken around 1978.
Comments
Kotolaris, in Ancient Greek means (roughly translated) "Mad as a hatter."
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 07/16/12 at 10:12 AM
Is it just me or does he resemble L. Ron Hubbard? Separated at birth, perhaps?
Posted by KDP on 07/16/12 at 10:47 AM
He reminds me of Charlie Chaplin in the first picture actually.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 07/16/12 at 10:00 PM
No, it is Oliver Hardy he reminds me of.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 07/17/12 at 08:58 AM
I found three of the other four comments very amusing!
I came here to post a comment about how much he reminded me of Benny Hill (more in his posture and expression, perhaps, than his actual features).
Quite a range of look-alikes, among these four comments!
I came here to post a comment about how much he reminded me of Benny Hill (more in his posture and expression, perhaps, than his actual features).
Quite a range of look-alikes, among these four comments!
Posted by Kyle Morgan on 07/27/12 at 12:32 PM
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Category: Eccentrics