Swamp Thing Actually a Hippie

 

FLORIDA — The legend of Swamp Thing might be just that: a legend. Swamp Thing–otherwise known as Alex Olsen–is most famous for being a personification of plant matter that grows in the swamp. Swamp Thing has had a very diverse image in the media: a scary swamp monster, a super hero, an environmentalist. It seems the latter is the most appropriate. Swamp thing is not a monster, nor a superhero–he’s just a hippie.

“It began as sort of a protest, but it’s actually quite a comfortable lifestyle” says Olsen (Swamp Thing), 59, and a long-time Florida resident. “The big corporations and their environmentally toxic practices, and our smog-producing society is what drives a man to become a Swamp Thing.”

Olsen’s hair (often mistaken for plant growth) is very thick, and when braided, resembles thick weeds. “I started growing it back when I was playing the dulcimer in the South Carolina-based band Granola Gravy (now defunct band of the late 60’s and early 70’s).”

During the late 1980’s, Swamp Thing spent some time in South Carolina. “I spent some time hanging out with my buddy, the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp”, Olsen says. “Now some people think he is some kind of myth of cryptozoology, but he’s just a man like me.”

Olsen says that the Lizard Man was exaggerated by the media to be some kind of mythical creature. “We’ve been calling him Lizard Man for years. That was his nickname in the band, because before Granola Gravy, the band was called the Lizard Men of Scape Ore Swamp. He’s very tall… about 6′8, but you know how people like to embelish height saying that he’s 8 feet tall or something.”

Olsen says that he’s going to do some collaborations in a jam band tour. “Yeah, the band Moe. invited me to play dulcimer to a couple of their songs on their set”, Olsen says. “And I’m going to do a set as well, some new original material, and some Willie covers, and maybe something by the Marshall Tucker Band.”