1. The Pre-Cringe Years (1964-1980)

Brian George Walton Jr. was born on October 8, 1964, in the sleepy farming town of Duarte, California, just north of where the 210 and 605 freeways intersect in smoggy Los Angeles County. His dad, Brian Senior, was the classic California auto-mechanic type—greased-back hair, a disarming smile, and a philandering attitude. His mom, Virginia Ann Walton (Hess), was from Buffalo, NY’s ethnically diverse East Side. Being a wildflower, she was trying to break away from her stifling German Catholic upbringing and embark on a journey of self-discovery and freedom in the Southern California sunshine…