Life on the Rails

KQED's News Fix just published a killer profile on Mike Brodie, who spent years hopping freight trains and photographing others doing the same:

Brodie would spend months traveling, often sleeping on the side of railroad tracks or in the woods. Occasionally, he'd go home to Florida to visit his mother.

For years I’d come home and every time I would see my mom I would be wearing the same dirty shirt, have really bad B.O., I’d have the same pants with all the patches on them. Wouldn’t change my socks or underwear, not often, you know? So my mom just got annoyed. She was like, 'Mike! You’re such a good-looking man! Why are you dressed like this!?' And I was like, 'I don’t care!' “

Read on for more on helping out his mother, going to prison for train-hopping, his thoughts on internet fame, and living in West Oakland. (And be sure to check out his photos.)

[KQED]

Comments (3)

His book just showed up at my doorstep yesterday, its quite good.

Rad flick, breh.

These kids look a lot like the ones that loiter up and down Haight Street.