Jon Kinyon

Whiskey Road by Parkey Sharkey

In the Summer of 2021, I published the 60th Anniversary Edition of Parkey Sharkey's infamous book, "Whiskey Road." Parkey was a notorious hard-drinking cab driver, scofflaw and pugilist from my hometown of Palo Alto, California. Many actually believed that journalist Paul Coates of the Los Angeles Daily Mirror invented Parkey Sharkey to keep his column alive in the late 1950s. Which was not true at all. Parkey's letters and cards were 100 percent legit. And yes, he actually appeared on Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" more than once.

Parkey's "Whiskey Road" was originally a self-published and self-distributed book, put out in 1961. This new 60th Anniversary annotated edition includes: An introduction by me, additional letters from Parkey Sharkey to newspaper columnists, a digital painting of Parkey and his taxi on "Whiskey Road" on the cover, very minor editorial corrections (most of the original bad grammar and formatting was left as originally published).

As Harry Lee "Memphis" Ward said in 1957, "Parkey's greatness stems from his ability to write with a vital and human ruggedness. His illiterate writings touch the mind and heart of everyone."

Whiskey Road was sold (for $1), but mostly given away, at watering holes wherever Parkey traveled. They were also given away for free with a fill-up at Bill Bello's Texaco station in downtown Palo Alto for a while, shortly after the book was banned in a local market.

This wonderful history book is available in paperback at Amazon.com & other online retailers.