By Dave Hill | Sun Magazine July 15-16, 1970
Will the real Bob Carlson please stand up and identify himself? So far, there are conflicting reports about just who the real Bob Carlson is:
An enterprising St. Paul hustler who has made an opportune bundle as a publicity-wise smut-peddler;
A crusading champion of freedom who has been victimized by the harassment of St. Paul’s self-appointed guardians of public and private morality;
A modest, even earnest small businessman who runs a group of bookstores, putting in long hours of hard work, trying to make an honest dollar just like thousands of other men in the hardware, furniture or used car lines.
When the real Bob Carlson does stand up, the situation gets a little muddled. You see, to one degree or another, all three of those confusing caricatures seem to fit him, at least a little bit.