God, Forgive These Bastards

The life of a complex soul is the subject of this book that is part biography and part companion for the Taxpayers’ jazz-punk album of the same name. In the late 1970s, Henry Turner went from a local hero as star pitcher of the Georgia Tech Wildcats to an abusive, alcoholic drifter. After spending his later years in homeless encampments and psychiatric wards, Turner turned his demons to his advantage and became a kind, beloved street storyteller, a friend of the downtrodden, and an angel of public transit. This is a remembrance of a life filled with contradictions—cowardice and bravery, falsehoods and candidness, glory and failure—and an exploration of the brief moments that can shape people's lives.