Ralph

Ralph "Sonny" Barger is the author of "Hell's Angel - The Life and Times of Sonny Barger." Sonny was born in central California and raised in Oakland. His father, Ralph, Sr., was a menial laborer and was barely able to eke out a living for his wife and two children. Sonny's mother, Kathryn, didn't stay around long. She took off with a bus driver when Sonny was only four months old. Although she tried to resume contact with him in later years, he rejected her. The scar of abandonment is not one that heals easily.

Ralph, Sr., was not the ideal parent although he did stay with his children. Ralph was a functioning alcoholic, which means that he was able to control his drinking enough to keep his job but when he wasn't working he was blind drunk. Ralph's labor jobs kept him away from home leaving young...