6.02.2010

PUN PLAMONDON: LOST FROM THE OTTAWA

Pun signing my copy...

I just finished the autobiography of Larry "Pun" Plamondon and I have to say it was such a great book and Pun is brutally honest about his life so far. I read this 412 page book in 24 hours. Just couldn't put it down.


I met Pun back in the 70's and just recently met him again briefly at a Gary Grimshaw benefit. For all of you younger than 50 this is a must read if you really want to know what the climate was really like around Detroit and Ann Arbor in the late 60's. Very exciting and would make a fantastic movie! Extremely well written and face paced. Maybe I should direct? LOL

My friend Jarrod Dicker of Stay Thirsty did a great interview with Pun read it HERE



From Amazon:

Plamondon's story is a classic tale of a Native infant "adopted out" into an alien world and denied his rightful inheritance. The sometimes tragic, often humorous life journey finally closes the circle and returns the author to his Tribe and family where he becomes a valued and trusted member of his community.

In 1945 the author was born to Native American parents who were patients in a State mental hospital in Michigan. At 18 months he was adopted into the world of white, working-class Catholics.

A troubled childhood led to reform school at 15, arrests for drunken assault at 16, and leaving home to become a hitchhiking vagabond at 17.

By 19 he was a union organizer of migrant farm workers for the AFL/CIO.

In 1968 he co-founded the White Panther Party, a militant organization dedicated to revolutionary change and a culture based on justice and cooperation.

In the fall of 1969 the author was indicted for bombing a CIA office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He fled "underground" and was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. He remained a most wanted fugitive for a year while he traveled to Canada, Europe and Algeria.

His capture by the FBI lead to revelations of illegal government wiretaps, which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision in defense of the Fourth Amendment and a Plamondon victory. The Supreme Court decision set in motion the planets that would ultimately collide and create the political whirlwind known as "Watergate" and the downfall of Richard Nixon.

Later the author found work as a bodyguard for rock stars, which lead to five years in the rock fast lane. Drugs and alcohol nearly killed him.

In the course of his recovery from alcoholism Pun met an Ottawa elder who put him on the path to his Ottawa people, and later his biological family.

He now is a valued member of his Native community and active with his clan and Tribe.

2 comments:

Mitch Wilcher said...

I met Pun several times when he and the MC5 lived in Ann Arbor. He gave me and my friends tons of White Panther Party literature which we passed out at Belleville High School! He also gave us many, many, promo posters of the MC5's Kick Out The Jams album which my friend John Horste still has his. He was a very nice man to us kids, and very smart. It's good to see he has it together again and doing well. I will definitely get his book!

Tom Wall said...

.sounds like a great book

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

addtoany