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Saturday, June 30, 2018

Thornton P. Knowles On An Offensive Freak Show Poster

Every year when the carnival rolled into our small town, my friends flocked to the rides. I just wandered around gawking at the strange people who came with the carnival. I didn't have money to gain entry into any of the freak tents. But I did study those gaudy, illustrated canvases that hung outside the tents. I remember that one of those colorful freak posters read: "FRANKIE FRANCINE, HALF-MAN, HALF-WOMAN!" That sign offended me. I didn't like the redundancy. It should have read half-man or half-woman, not both. I was 9-years-old and already a writer. I guess I was the real freak at that carnival.

Thornton P. Knowles

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