The Bizarre Life of Colonel Sanders
When I was in college, I was part of a reading group that focused on strange and obscure books. Selections included On Atlantis by Edgar Cayce, Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim and Sammy Davis Jr’s autobiography Yes I Can. A memorable book was the 1974 autobiography of Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame Life as I Have Known it Has Been Finger Lickin’ Good. (Why he didn’t shorten the title to “Life is Finger Lickin’ Good” adds to the book’s allure.)
Sanders was born the oldest of three children in 1890 in Henryville, Indiana. His father, a farmer, died when Sanders was six. His mom, a devout Christian, warned Sanders about “the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and whistling on Sundays.” She took a job at a tomato cannery to support the family while six-year old Sanders cooked for his siblings at home. By age ten, he found work as a farmhand.
In 1902, his mom remarried. Sanders and his stepfather had terrible fights. Sanders dropped out of seventh grade (“algebra’s what drove me off”) and went to live and work on a nearby farm. By age 16, he lived with his uncle in Sheffield, Alabama. He worked odd jobs for the railroad including blacksmith, ash pan cleaner and steam engine stoker. At age 18, he met and married a woman named Josephine King.
