Manny The Hippie
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| Tuesday, August 27, 1996 · Page A13 | © 1996 San Francisco Chronicle |
Letterman's Hippie Flies Back to Ohio
Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer
He'll be sentenced for probation violation
A dispirited Manny the Hippie was still cooling his heels in the county slammer yesterday, trying desperately to find a diggity-dank silver lining in a dark, unrelenting cloud of schwag.
Manny, 20 -- a.k.a. Micah Papp -- is wanted in Xenia, Ohio, for skipping probation on a pot bust.
``Ohio is tougher on pot than San Francisco,'' mused Manny as he surveyed the scuffed, dingy walls of a jail interview room. ``But I waived my right to extradition. My lawyer said I don't have any real grounds to fight it, and I don't want to make those people madder at me than they already are.''
Manny said he plans to deal decisively with his past and get on with his life.
``It's better this way,'' he said. ``It's something I just have to face up to. I gotta put all those stupid games behind me.''
His family, Manny said, has been a source of solace and support during his troubles.
In Beaver Creek, Ohio, cosmetologist Ferol Papp, Manny's big sister, waited anxiously for him to arrive. She says flying him back to Ohio is a big waste of money.
``He's paying taxes now,'' she said. ``He's a productive member of society. He's working. He's making good money. He's not doing anything wrong.''
Manny went from Haight Street anonymity to global celebrity during the recent visit of talk show host David Letterman to San Francisco.
Like Dave's mom before him, Manny proved an unexpectedly subtle foil to the acerbic late night host, sometimes serving as straight man, sometimes riotously upstaging Letterman.
He even added two new words to the nation's pop cultural lexicon: ``dank'' (and its superlative, ``diggity-dank'') for good and ``schwag'' for bad.
After Letterman went back to New York, Manny stayed behind as a kind of late night stringer, weighing in occasionally with movie reviews and neo-hippy epiphanies.
But the high times ground to an abrupt halt when Manny was picked up on a warrant last week for selling an eighth-ounce of marijuana to an Ohio undercover cop two years ago.
He spent 2 1/2 months in jail for that offense, then jumped his probation to find fame and fortune -- or at least some killer bud and a carefree lifestyle -- in San Francisco.
Jail has not been kind to Manny. He was beat up by a couple of inmates, and the cold stone walls have chilled his gentle spirit.
``I'm hoping for the best,'' he said. ``I can only pray the judge will be fair.''
Manny faces a maximum sentence of up to 18 months in state prison.
He said he intends to return to San Francisco once he has done his time.
``With any luck, I could be back in a month,'' he said. ``I have an agent who's putting together some deals for me.''
And has Letterman come to his aid since learning of his plight?
``Well, I haven't talked to Dave,'' said Manny. ``But I have talked to his producers. They were, like -- `Wow, what can we do?' But there's nothing they can do. I'll be on the show when I get out, though.''