The Nasty

Did he exist? Maybe.

There are records.

Now to get the feel of this tight-knit group you have to look at the Group itself. There was Samus Davis Jr., a pudgy black man with the name of the famous singer and movie star. There was Crazy Uncle Otto, a now famous magician and millionaire. Ever receive in the mail coupons or ads for various products? Uncle Otto made that up and marketed that. Tiny Ferguson was the next member, being a total opposite of his name. He was about 6’7 and 300 pounds, the biggest of the bunch. There was also Walrus Jones, the Yosemite-Sam mustached 40-year-old that cashed in his gambling problem for a new house in Palm Springs. And then there was the most foul, funny, and prime man of the group.

They called him The Nasty. (His real name was Kirk Seeley) He was responsible for half the hippie movement in California. He played poker with the Las Vegas mob bosses. He won the Palm Springs Gene Autry Classic Golf Tournament two years. His name is Nasty Canasty, the legendary and forgotten Hippie Golfer.

Over the years his name has been unremembered and unheard of. But he was the most controversial and humorous man in the Palm Springs area in the middle and late 70’s. Not many records of his golfing feats or even himself can be found. There is only one interview of him on record for his amazing golf talents. He even has done commercials for the old 70’s television. When the Palm Springs affiliates came to him begging him to do a couple of commercials for the Southern California Television Company, he said he would do them on one condition- that he and his friends write and direct the commercials themselves. He did commercials for Miller Lite, a margarine company, and Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. They never aired.

Nasty’s poetry can be found in some older Poet Society Books and newspaper articles about him are still considered very rare. One poem, “Dangerous Dan Mcgrew- Part II” is published. He actually did a stint with legendary actor John Wayne for the Kids with Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, which was to air on national television, but after some on-set hijinks and a few parodies of the skit the SCTC pulled the telethon from the airwaves. He also was narrator and broadcaster for the World Record Chinese Sit-up Event and the only man in the world to win a major golf tournament with a blood-alcohol level of up to 1.8.

The 248 pound behemoth of a man was kind at heart and very unpredictable. He was one of the greatest characters in the 70’s. Here is Nasty Canasty.

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