May 20, 2009

CA: Yolo's cool old hippie retires

From the Sacramento Bee:

Yolo County loses best-known employee among exodus of early retirees

Barry Melton knows his days as a young rock icon, when he took the stage at Woodstock with a tousle of blond curls, are long past... But at 61, Melton – the Yolo County public defender who became famous as "The Fish" in the Vietnam-era band Country Joe and the Fish – leaves at the top of his game as a lawyer.

He said he decided to retire next month partly to save jobs in his office as Yolo County struggles with a historic budget crisis. "It's either that," Melton said, "or put some young attorney in the unemployment line..."


Such a cool guy.

2 Comments:

Liz Ditz said...

Oh! Melton never graduated from college, and never went to law school -- but passed the bar anyway.

Mensch.

Sancho said...

He IS a cool dude! He has played benefit concerts for Death Penalty Focus and other events in the past. The investigators in his office have a lot of respect for the dude.