You say that looking for love is like digging in the dirt
If I ever go broke from bad investments and lose all my marbles I hope I can do it as well as Emperor Norton.
A businessman in San Fran he lost the money bequested to him by his father and disappeared for a while and came back cooler and I guess crazier than ever.
Who has the balls to name themselves the Emperor of the United States (and Protector of Mexico), after all?
Hanging out on the streets in high regalia with walking canes or umbrellas, Norton I personally inspected cable cars and signs, sidewalks and the uniforms of police officers and was, I bet, everyone's best friend.
Those were the days when crazies were cool, eccentrics were humored and when some asshole cop with a wicked name (Armand Barbier) tried to put 'em in a mental hospital the people were outraged.
How dare you try and put the Emperor away!
Luckily for Armand the Emperor was big enough to grant him an Imperial Pardon
and from then on all the police officers saluted Norton when they passed him on the street.
The subject of characters and plays and popular media the Emperor died suddenly on a corner one day.
Just like that.
He had no money but the people loved him so much that the people of the Pacific Club shelled out for an expensive redwood coffin and over 30,000 people showed up to mourn everyones' favorite monarch.
He wrote to Queen V. asking to marry her, did you hear?
She'll probably never get over the loss.
They finally built that bridge he was always harassing everyone about and while they didn't name it in his honor as was proposed, Emperor Norton Day is January 8th so make sure that if you can't be at the grave-site that says
"Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico"
take a second to bow yr head and remember that it's people like The Emperor who make life worth living.
Even if he died 130yrs before you were born.
