Sad Clown
A man and his obsessions
Read John Barry's story: A gloomy cloud of homelessness looms over 30,000 clowns. A massive orange, yellow and red clown diaspora could be choking on dust on U.S. 27 by New Year's Day.
All are wooden, ceramic, crystal, cloth and plastic inhabitants of Clown Rushmore, one man's 40-year, bittersweet obsession, which he calls "the World's Largest Clown Collection to the Best of Our Knowledge."
Collector Jack Klein is turning 78. Clown Rushmore is tumbling down around him. He has put about 900 of his best clowns up for auction today through Sunday. The 29,000 leftovers will be sold a week later. The auctioneer calls it "the G-D-est thing I've ever seen in my life."
