Terry The Tramp

Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction. “California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.” Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.

This book takes you on a turbulent ride through the life of Terry ?the Tramp,” long-time leader of one of the most notorious motorcycle clubs of all time, the Vagos MC.

Former president of the Hells Angels, George Christie shares entertaining stories of his time in the club.

Some folks find their way to the bright white side of the tracks, but there’s a small percentage who run through the dark alleys of life. Even a smaller portion of those survive. Terry “the Tramp,” born in 1947 to a broken middle-class home in Alhambra, California, grew up with a violent chip on his shoulder. Terry became the international president of one of the most notorious one-percenter motorcycle clubs in southern California, the Vagos MC, and remained in office through upheaval, indictments, drugs, and gang wars for 26 years, until he was unceremoniously extricated. He is still a member after 42 years and never went to prison until 2010. This book takes the reader on a turbulent ride through Terry’s notorious life, each page sizzling with violent tales wrapped in a razor-sharp edge. Through it all, we come to learn what propelled this stout, unassuming man into a leadership role lasting over two decades.

Relates the undercover work of George Rowe, who infiltrated the Vagos motorcycle gang, spending three years working to take down the gang from the inside.

Former Hell's Angel Jake "Bonecrusher" Sawyer takes us on a no-holds-barred-go-for-the-gusto-every-time joy ride through a life filled with wanton sex, shocking violence, and raucous good humor, all the while showing us how to live life to its fullest ... and be happy as hell all the way through our golden years! A prep school sports star, U.S. Army para- trooper, Kentucky rum-runner, a less than model prisoner at San Quentin and Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, and a champion body-builder and fitness guru to the elite and not so elite, Jake is the kind of life coach we've all been looking for!

Now in paperback, this first oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements brings the sound of the punk generation chillingly to life with 50 new pages of depraved testimony. "Please Kill Me" reads like a fast-paced novel, but the tragedies it contains are all too human and all too real. photos.

I hadn't planned on writing a book when I quit the Hells Angels. After forty years in the Hells Angels, George Christie was ready to retire. As president of the high-profile Ventura charter of the club, he had been the yin to Sonny Barger’s yang. Barger was the reckless figurehead and de facto world leader of the Hells Angels. Christie was the negotiator, the spokesman, the thinker, the guy who smoothed things out. He was the one who carried the Olympic torch and counted movie stars, artists, rock musicians, and police chief captains among his friends. But leaving the Hells Angels isn’t easy, and within two weeks of retirement, he was told he was “out bad”—blackballed by his fellow Angels, prohibited from wearing the club patch, and even told he should remove his Death Head tattoo. Now Christie sets out to tell his story. Exile on Front Street is the tale of how a former Marine gave up a comfortable job with the Department of Defense and swore allegiance to the Hells Angels. In this revealing, hard-hitting memoir, he recounts his life as an outlaw biker with the world’s most infamous motorcycle club.