Remembering Joybubbles
Comments(2)From Wikipedia:
A student at the University of South Florida in the late 1960s, he was given the nickname “Whistler,” due to his ability to place free long-distance phone calls with his whistle. He was disciplined by the university early on; but after graduating his studies in philosophy and moving to Tennessee, law enforcement raided his house. He was charged with malicious mischief and given a suspended sentence and quickly abandoned phreaking, although was able to whistle 2600 hertz throughout his life.
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In the early 1980’s, he ran a phone line called the “Zzzzyzzerrific Funline,” which had the distinction of being the very last entry in the phone book. During the Zzzzyzzerrific Funline days, he would go on various rants about how much he loved Valleyfair amusement park and would also regularly play and discuss “Up With People“.
Joybubbles died of a heart attack on August 8, 2007, in his home in Minneapolis.
I’m sad that this is the first I’ve heard of this man. May his childhood go on.
Oooh. Good one. Going through his phone shows. You should check out Mel’s Hole sometime if you haven’t heard of it. Real or fake, probably fake, but an interesting listen. http://turbo.peteronline.net/melshole/
I’ll check it out and see what its all about.