Scary Monsters, Super Freaks

Browsing through America's biggest publications, such as Rolling Stone, GQ and Esquire, Mike Sager's stories have always grabbed my attention. From the epic tragedy of John Holmes, the infamous porn star who got mixed up in the lurid "Wonderland" murders in Laurel Canyon, to the equally tragic downfall of Rick James, who was on top of the world with the song "Super Freak" in 1981, but 14 years later was Inmate #J29237 in Folsom Prison. Then there's Michael Cesar, the self-proclaimed "Pope of Pot," who had bicycle messengers all over New York who could deliver your marijuana in 40 minutes, simply by dialing 1-800-WANT POT.

If I ever packed away or threw out a magazine that featured a Sager story, I'd always regret it. The details of his stories kept burning in my mind, compelling me to read them again and again. As noted by David Grainger, Sager's editor at Esquire, Sager's stories "take you to places you don't necessarily want to go, but after you've been there, damn, you can't wait to head to the next Sager destination."

Many of Sager's articles have reappeared in the book Scary Monsters and Super Freaks best-selling compilation of articles from Thunders Mouth Press. Sager is currently writing a novel, scheduled for release in 2007, as well as teaching at The University of California, Irvine. But he had no trouble going back to some difficult places for TwitchGuru. If there's one person who's not afraid of looking into dark corners, it's Sager.

Mike Sager

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