Quotes from Red -

How can the social system be improved? It's a crime to smoke marijuana, a plant, but poisoning millions of people through toxic wastes is business as usual. How much will you give for the lives of your children's children, which is yourself. How much are people willing to give up for air, earth, water, animals, and the coming generations? I think the answer to that is pretty clear.

Almost everything you eat or drink has water in it. No matter where it's from, most of it's polluted. Most of it's got a lot of chemicals that we have to stop producing, It's a simple thing. We don't transfer it. We don't move the poisons somewhere else. We stop producing them. We use our brains.

I want clean water. I want water I could take a newborn baby down to and... you're not interested in air and water and you're gonna need it! And as it disappears from the earth, if you don't do anything about it... if you do not participate in doing whatever you can to protect your mother, your nurturer that keeps you alive, you don't get life.

Rattlesnakes eat the animals that reproduce in quantity. They all have a purpose, so we need them. Since we don't know or understand the overall purpose of so many animals, it's to our advantage to let them enlighten us. Snakes serve to keep people from being unaware oafs (ln the wild). If not for the need to look out for dangers around us we'd all be blundering plundering pigs. If animals didn't have a survival instinct, many more would be food to a few who'd get fat, flounder and die. End of story. Finito. No more life. Women holler and bitch to the contrary but we all live in a matriarchy and have for many many years. Women's needs have been the reason for work, war, religion and death. When in balance with the needs of the soul or patriarch (father, God, spirit, universe) this works well because the women's role has always been to make sure the young survive. When out of balance it destroys life.

There were many women around. We all had a relationship with each other that was very strong. And all of our mind's kind of hooked up. We rejected the society. We rejected marriage because we didn't like what our parents had. We looked at our parents' marriages and we said, "You know, if I'm going to say I pledge my life to you till death, then I'm not going to leave." We rejected paying taxes when we didn't know where those tax dollars were going. We wanted to know what is it being used for? I know lots of young people felt that way. They wanted to know what is this war for?

When the circumstances are right, everything becomes a dance. And then, there's this communication that happens on earth between the animals and the people. And when you're in the woods, when you're some place like the redwoods -- when you are in the presence of a thousand-year-old, or three-thousand-year-old tree that's as big as a house, it puts you in your place. When it came to animals, he wanted to know "What are you and what do you do? He didn't say those words, but more or less, he looked at each animal as an interesting creature and he wanted to know how it lived and what it was here for. And everything has that purpose, that nice, circular balance of plant life, of animal life. We have a planet that needs all the help it can get and people are not number one, you know.

I wanted a courtroom. I wanted to put my people in court and let them say what they did. Bugliosi, the district attorney on the Tate-LaBianca cases, had put out a book. There were a lot of falsehoods in that book, and it was a distorted view of our purposes, helter skelter and all... wanting to start a race war - that's a joke. A race war's been coming for years and years. So, for them to put it all on Manson is criminal. But the other people, the other races of people know. And all that I say, with regard to that, is I believe it's natural. I believe that it is natural to like yourself, to look to others that look like you. And it's good. Other races should not be looking to white people for images.

I have no respect for people who don't have respect for what gives them life. And that's earth. You know, earth first. That's Manson's first woman.

He can get right up to you and affect you in a way that maybe you've never been affected before. Because he can scare the shit out of you, turn around, walk away, and turn back and be somebody else. And he can show you a way to become connected with birds and animals and trees and things like that. He shows you by his actions. He doesn't tell you. He doesn't preach it. He wasn't a preacher. He didn't teach us these things. He just lived them. And that was more than we had seen from anyone else. And as far as leaders go, I'll go with that, you know. He didn't ask me to call him God. We thought that was really funny. You think we'd be with somebody we had to call God?

People want evil. In order for there to be a good, there has to be evil. People want it. I don't happen to need scary things chasing me around. I don't want my dreams full of that. I want to see what's here. I want to discover the country. I want to take a look at it.

.... it was a unanimous type of a decision. And it was... we didn't vote on it or anything. We had become one mind. And it wasn't Manson's mind. We had become another, something that goes beyond the individual, I don't know what to call it.

And I will explain that this way. I picked up a pair of scissors in the ranch house and I'm thinking "I don't need these" so I put them down. I walk in circles. Finally, I pick up the scissors and leave. And I get down where the movie set is and one of the girls stepped out of a saloon. She said, "Thank you". It was not abnormal for us to understand and know each other's thoughts from a distance. Then we realized this is what human beings can do. All of us, you know. And we weren't sure we were worthy of it. And we had to deal with religion and you know, were we worthy, Religions teach otherwise. Well, why not? What else would God have us be but worthy? So then, to accept this and to go on, we saw so many things that I don't talk about them.

He can dance. He likes to dance. And it comes from feeling. And if he touches you, then it spreads. And then, people start behaving differently. And they become more, I guess, just poised.

I think it's coming back around again. I think kids are dissatisfied and they're... they all, kids are always dissatisfied, but I think that they're coming back to natural things again, it's hard because half of it's been taken away from you already. Kids tell me all the time, "Well, you know, it may not be here by the time I'm an adult" They say, "I don't know if I'm gonna have children or not." We're a continuum. As human beings, we' re supposed to see into the future. When you hear those Indians down in Brazil talking about their kids and their grandkids, it's warming. I want them to win. I don't want them to be slaughtered. I want them to win.

I was sitting behind lots and lots of people when Charlie walked into the courtroom, and he was asking the judge to be able to retain his voice. He wanted to defend himself and not have someone else up there talking for him who didn't know him. And the people were wanting to see what he was about, what he had to say. They were on the edge of the seats, and the reporters were writing down things and suddenly, very suddenly, the judge banged the gavel, and he said, "This is my courtroom, Mr. Manson, and I make the rules here." And it was obviously an attempt to gain back the attention of the people 'cause everybody jumped. Everybody felt like they had been reprimanded. And that's supposed to be the "big dad" up there. I'll give him that respect if he gives my land and water and air that respect. I mean, there should be judges, like Solomon, wise people to be in the middle of disputes. But don't take my attention and then just point me toward money and tell me that's the only thing that's right.

I mean, when people kill, they have to be willing to be killed. And the women involved in this, and the men at the time, they were. They were. So, whatever they say about Charlie, it can be a reaction to something. I don't know. They are under much more pressure than I have ever been.

I just know that there are a lot of young people who want to follow him, so they follow what they read in the books. It's not right. We didn't take heroin. No way. You won't get me to touch that. Or Cocaine. And I've had to write letters to young people saying we didn't do that because they wrote me and they tell me, "Yeah, it's cool. I take these drugs and all. . . "

How could you let an elephant be extinct? How could we allow elephants to be taken off the earth? We can't do that.

A 1987 interview with Red:

Why did you try to escape from prison, and... if your escape had succeeded, what did you want to do?

I didn't try - I escaped. I was headed West to take a female bull off Manson's back; a staff member who had set herself up as a roadblock between us. Our communications were diverted, and she wouldn't permit him to call me. I've talked to him twice in 17 years. The calls are monitored. I've seen women in prison call however many husbands, boyfriends, or lesbian lovers they have in other prisons. One guy (in the last prison Manson was in) got out, had a sex change operation, married his in-prison lover and got conjugal visits. That was while we weren't allowed to talk. I didn't object to these peoples' relations AND AFTER TWENTY YEARS NO ONE SHOULD OBJECT TO MINE. So, when I got word from three different sets of people who all said Manson had cancer, I knew I couldn't get straight info from his staff and had no choice but to go over the fence for it.

Because your name is well-known, has it caused personal persecution by prison officials?

No, not here. It's getting worse but this is "West-By-God-Virginia' and the original staff I've met had homes and farms. They for the most part had good intuition, full lives, and didn't need Hollywood for entertainment. At the California prisons where people follow each other in circles trying to be in the vanguard, Manson gets harassed by staff people who think they'll be popular for it. Prisoners aren't blind to that. They may play on it, but they see it. One of the women employed there wrote in a report about one of Manson's visitors as "a follower", and you can see the bogus books in their brains, but - they don't realize they've been propagandized. It's useless to tell them in words.

How can the prison system be improved?

How can the social system be improved? It's a crime to smoke marijuana, a plant, but poisoning millions of people through toxic wastes is business as usual. How much will you give for the lives of your children's children, which is yourself? How much are people willing to give up for air, earth, water, animals, and the coming generations? I think the answer to that is pretty clear.

In 1975, what was your reason for trying to assassinate President Ford?

I pleaded "NOT GUILTY" to the charge of "attempted assassination of a President". There were 4 bullets in the handle of the gun - none in the chamber. Had I wanted to use a bullet, I would've jacked back the slide til it clicked and pushed it forward, injecting one into its chamber. I moved spontaneously, as anytime feeling or intuition its strong, and I didn't choose to load the weapon. So - the plea was true. If Manson had anything to do with it, it is this - He asked the women around him to put the Earth before him to work for air, trees, water, animals (he calls it ATWA). He told me long ago that life on Earth does not begin with humans, but with all that keeps us alive. He said the Earth and its animals can survive without people. People cannot survive without it. Such a simple thing. You may say that everyone knows it; but humans behave now as if they can eat money and drink gasoline and oil.

I had that and other pollutions on my mind when Ford flew into Sacramento for a big Business and Industry breakfast the following morning.

I had tried for five years to meet the always changing requirements for visiting Manson and was to be permanently barred no matter. I had just seen the book written by the District Attorney in the Tate/LaBianca trials, and other books just an wrong. I was thinking of the day Manson first spoke to the judge about retaining his voice in court - his attitude; simple, sincere. I was at the back of the courtroom, which was silent, packed with reporters on the edges of the benches, craning to see and hear. I saw them all jump at the sound of the gavel and bow to the judge's voice which was terse and full of authorative rebuke - "This is MY courtroom, Mr. Manson, And I make the rules here." He put an end to Manson's voice in the courtroom. Now - by Supreme Court rulings, all defendants have the right to represent themselves in court. Then - the lawyers showed nothing but chaos. The DA made mucho money. The movie confused a lot of kids. But that's how the Society of Ladies keeps a man a little boy for her use. Surety and faith are God's.

What, do you feel, is most misunderstood about Manson?

One thing people don't understand is "now". Most minds think from A to B to G to 0 or hold goals and ambitions to keep them going. The prosecutor and other writers were highly ambitious, so they say that Manson aspired to be a singing star. That's foolish to anyone who saw him pass up, time after time, the chance to become one. The producers wanted him to come to the studios by himself. He got a bunch of unprofessional kazoo and spoon playing dropouts to go with him. He said, "What fun would it be without all of us together?" Those were different times. What people don't understand is that he wasn't looking for attention, which is part of one reason he got so much of it. We wanted to know what he had.

Manson, though, seems to have been unsuccessful in getting his music properly recorded, and heard. With the 'right' promotions, how successful do you think he could have been as a songwriter/music artist?

Regarding your first statement - He was successful within his own judgment, but he was not willing to make the bargain required for financial success and that's the first and most important requirement before the industry is willing to handle an artist. Many musicians will say they do not care about the money, yet they must commit themselves to appear at given times and places, and to produce what sells, whether they believe in it or not. It depends on contracts. Manson didn't want to be imprisoned by anything except.... there is one, maybe two words I could use to say what he was committed to, but I would leave that to him.

Whose music do you listen to these days, and consider as the 'driving force' in music today?

Money - That's always been the driving force in the industry. They put out what they can roll. The Beach Boys were owned and operated. Dennis didn't have pocket change at times. It was said (not by him) that we were thrown out of his house. Not so. We were considered a threat by his investors because he kept saying he wanted to just leave the group awhile and go off into the woods. He asked us to wait for him, but he didn't keep his word. He'd make three appointments at one time. When he did it to those of us in his house, we told him once. The second time, we split.

A little bit of soul, in music, gets out and calls to the same in all of us. Then, the buyers and sellers dam and divert it to their ends - so, pretty soon what you are paying for is the asphalt on the road to hell.

Who do you consider as the music artists that have been the most influential over the years, and why?

Beethoven, Taliesin (the Merlin), and some whose names are lost. I could tell you what Manson told me about music but it's not for sale, and I would betray myself to do so. I don't even know who you are.

On a superficial level, I could say those names you already know. He (Manson) grew up in the 30's with Hank Williams the first who was, he tells me - originally called 'Luke the Drifter', - Lefty Frizzel, Frankie Laine and he always mentions Bing Crosby. Charlies got a fine voice with three or four comfortable octaves, but he generally only sings soft, beautiful songs in soft, beautiful places. He can sing "When They Begin the Beguine" going up three octaves on the guitar, and on my spine, but he doesn't like to sing old or over-used stuff that is not in now.

What comments, or thoughts, would you like to convey in conclusion?

Keep talking about moving toxic wastes, but never let it cross your mind to quit producing them.
Keep judging yourselves in Manson. Don't look in the mirror.
You will serve the Earth as much as she serves you, or you will commit suicide.

Lynette Fromme, Red, and Sandra Good, Blue, have been with Manson for over twenty-five years.

In 1975 Red was convicted of attempting to assassinate then President Gerald Ford. She was sentenced to life in prison. She began her sentence at MCI - San Diego, was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) - Pleasanton, California, then went to FCI - Alderson, West Virginia. After Alderson she served a few months in Lexington, Kentucky's max unit before being transferred to the maximum-security unit at FCI - Marianna, Florida.

Poem Dedicated to Red:

In twilight's hush, where ancient trees stand tall, A tale of a red majesty begins to enthrall,

Thirty-four years behind bars, a life in captivity, For justice and truth, a fight with tenacity.

Always a rebel of spirit, with passions so fierce, Her pen and her voice were a sword to pierce,

Through pollution’s dark shroud and environmental blight, She wrote with a fury that set wrongs to right.

From behind prison's walls, her words took flight, Publishing her story, a beacon of light,

In pages of struggle and triumph she penned, A life of resilience that would never end.

A tapestry she crafted, not just with thread, But with courage and truth that by which she was led,

Her needle a wand of defiant decree, Embroidery of justice, her silent plea.

Her letters, a summons, to honor and fight, Against those who darken the world with their might,

A call to protect what’s sacred and pure, A legacy of justice, steadfast and sure.

Through thirty-four years of hardship, her spirit did blaze, A martyr’s devotion that we still appraise,

Her story now written, her message still clear, A guide for the future, through dark and through fear.

O red majesty, your name will resound, In the hearts of the faithful, your legacy found,

A testament to the power of one soul’s fierce stand, A shining example of love for the land.

As we honor your journey, we pledge to aspire, To keep burning your flame, to rise ever higher,

In memory, we fight, with every stitch and each stand, For a world that’s as pristine as the redwood’s grand land.

Rest now in peace and enjoy life, your battle is done, Your story lives on, like the rays of the sun,

A guiding star in the endless night, Your legacy endures, a symbol of light.

MIND BEYOND MADNESS

A version of this writing circa 1997 first appeared that same year in a website belonging to S. Good and G. Stimson along with photos of the embroidered vest that I am here describing. - Red

The vest began as two trees I wanted to keep, so I embroidered my memory of them onto patches of material. Later I was required to put these and other patches together to make of them a single “unfinished craft project,” as that was my only chance of retaining the work during the Bureau of Prisons’ big sweep to reduce inmates’ property. From there I embroidered directly onto the material for about ten years. Some of the result was formed by restriction. Thread colors ran out, one by one, and I was not only unable to buy more but could not let it be known that I possessed any.

The two trees needed water so the river was a must. It reminded me of the Greenbriar River in West Virginia where I went on my “vacation” in 1987. The roots of the trees grow down its banks, exposed by erosion during floods. The woman in the river represents both Air and Water, for the living things of each need the other, but there is another woman in a waterfall near the bottom of the vest. She and all her offspring are the result of the mating of sky and earth above her. So, of the four women she is Water, the other Air, another Trees, and the other Animals, all necessary for balance of the Earth. 
 

The woman of the Air points to the sky and to the spirit, which is breath, inspiration to expiration. In this mind is the face of Charlie — a shaman, seer, visionary — but Manson IS the mind, all that is, and all that is yet unimagined and unrealized. He wears all crowns from thorns to precious metals and gems, to cloth, beads, feathers, bone, sinew, and wisps of whispered spirit. 

The black birds are ravens, seen often in the desert, intelligent, believed by some cultures to be capable of transmitting spiritual messages. They fly toward a death head with a yin/yang or balance sign in from of its teeth. An iron cross and a reverse swastika, symbols of WWII, are in their wake and way.
 

The symbols made up of crosses, stars, triangles, and squares have been around forever. Interpretations would vary, and original inspirations directing the use of symbols would be cheapened by shallow phrases, but for the record: The swastika a.k.a. Fylfot, gamma cross, Croix cramponee and so on is found in early Sanskrit and has been interpreted as equivalent to “So be it” or “Amen.” Recorded 10,000 B.C. it has been found on artifacts and structures in Greece, Italy, India, Japan, China, Libya, Northern Europe, and the Americas. Interpretations of the meaning in the direction of its arms — masculine/feminine, war/peace, life/death, and various opposites — lend to a general notion of turns of behavior, rule and culture. The four arms have been used to signify the four directions, the four seasons, the four that add up to one. 
 

The “Runic Swastika” comes from Scandinavia, said to have signified recycling, regeneration, a return to Mother Earth, Mother Sea. There are variations of the cross — the Maltese and Latin being two — but if what I read is true, the cross did not become the primary symbol of Christianity until the ninth century A.D. I included some of these crosses along with many wheels and circles. 

The Islamic Moon and Star and the Jewish Star of David play large parts on the world stage. Together they hold much of the world hostage in fear and hope of another war. Charlie best expressed what I believe on this subject: “All land is Holy Land.” And “Religion is God’s biggest problem.” 
 

In the upper right back of the vest Charlie is sitting on a chessboard over dice and the nuclear symbol, playing his guitar. Here he is without a face. He sings, “I know a place behind your face.” A partial view of the world globe is near him. He sings, “We’ll never blow it up.” 
 

A wildcat in leaves, a scorpion in the night sky, these and many other creatures on both panels, were taken from tracings and drawings done my me and friends, inside prison and out. The front panel depicts scenes of California, San Francisco, the redwoods, the desert, and the Pacific Ocean. Palm trees and sun signify Los Angeles and Hollywood, but below these cities a pipe pours human wastes into the sea.