James Daniel Vancas:  

WHERE IS "BIRD MAN" ? Guess what I do now? I am an artist. I paint nudes, pinup girls, and retro illustrations of America of the 20th century. Rather romantic and playful artwork. After 3 years of college, wanting to be an artist, and having children young, I became a building contractor for 18 years, and after an work injury returned to my first love, which was art. I moved to Santa Cruz, Monetery and now for the last 10 years live in Carmel-by-the-sea. I founded a gallery called Vanguard Gallery, I am located at the Clint Eastwood Build. in Carmel. (Yes, Clint is my landlord) His wife also attended MSJ in the 80's. In high school, I was called "Bird Man" because I had hawks and falcons. It started as a joke, by a punky kid, to be mean. That didn't work, everybody started calling me that and I thought the name "Bird-man" was cool. I was a artistic, wrote and painted. I didn't fit to the MSJ social groups, and was an outsider. I was anti-Vietnam, alternative, wrote poetry, played a little music, liked jazz and all music styles and my passion was painting. Most of you didn't know me, and only knew of me. Many people thought I used drugs like everyone else...This was not true story, when in fact after a rather brief, stupid and fortunately minor experimentation when I was sophomore, I then reversed my attitude and became very anti drug, in my junior and senior years and remained this way my whole life. Still I was socially rebellious about the war was an artist, so I looked very alternative with really long hair. Punks wanted to pick fights with me all the time, more so when I pierced my ear! Artist, poetry, anti-war weirdo, with long hair and an earring in 1970?!! I was a target for the bullies and punks! We all lost friends to Vietnam. I did too. Because of this, and the drug issues on campus, the fact several people I knew were hurt and abused because of drugs use at MSJ, I then had several challenges and minor shoving confrontations with the local MSH drug pusher to make him stop selling! What made me more angry, was the local drug nark for the Police was only shielding this main pusher of heaver drugs and would turn in the kids using grass. I confronted the nark and the drug pusher and told them I knew the score and to get their drugs off the school. As a result 8 weeks before ...Expand for more