Portraits, An Adventure into Time and Face, a gallery (2 images)

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 Ellesworth Funk working fence Bodie Road, 

Mono County, California April 1972

Jerilee, Rick, and I were on our way up a winding dirt road to the iconic ghost town of Bodie when we came upon an early fifties Chevrolet pickup packing a very homemade camper. It was so odd that we pulled over, got out, and went over for a look. In a gully north of the road, we noticed a man dressed completely in leather, wearing a six-gun and a straw cowboy hat. It was kind of a time-warp experience. 

The man climbed up the bank and introduced himself as Ellsworth Funk. We started talking; I think he was pleased to have someone to say anything to, and one of them was a cute girl to boot. 

I asked him why he was armed. He said he was hired by a local rancher to mend fences, and the gun was for rattlesnakes. As he climbed into his camper to get a cup of coffee, I asked where he got his leather outfit. He said he made it himself ‘cause leather wore so well in his line of work. 

When he sat down in the doorway, I asked him if his underwear didn't roll or bunch up because of the felt texture of rough out leather. He thought for a minute and said, "What underwear? It must be . . . 10 yar or so since I had any on.”

I remember thinking as we were leaving, that I'd never met anyone who seemed to live within his name so well.