Fifty years and a day
Self portrait. By Wilfred Sarr Wilfred Sarr’s life in art Editor’s note: a show featuring work of Wilfred Sarr from the collection of John LeMarr launches Thursday night at The Loft in San Pedro with an artist’s reception on Sept. 22. The following is an excerpt from a story originally published in 2010. In September of 1960, a very unlikely GI went on leave. Wilfred Sarr was 24. He’d been drafted the previous year, unceremoniously yanked from Compton College, where he studied psychology for one very good reason. “Well, I knew that I was crazy, no doubt about that,” Sarr said. “I looked at the way my mind worked and played tricks on me – I had so many automobile accidents, just little things to let me know there was a mechanism in me somewhere that was at odds with my progress.” Army life was surprisingly pleasant. Even basic training was no problem. Sarr had been working in a clown diving act, so he was plenty fit. He was then trained as a medic and sent to Germany. “Of all the things I could have gotten into, to be a medic was wonderful,” Sarr said. “If I had been in a light outfit, I would have cracked up and gotten killed by my own men.” He was stationed in a beautiful German…
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