Legendary Moonshiner: Popcorn Sutton (the day before he died) by Andy Armstrong

[Music] in March of 2009 I was hired by a california-based company to travel to the parents Ville Tennessee home of renowned and notorious moonshiner Marvin popcorn son the ATF had arrested popcorn after a raid on his property that yielded some eight hundred and fifty gallons of moonshine he was convicted on federal charges in late 2008 and he was scheduled to start serving his sentence in federal prison the Friday after our portrait session he never reported to prison on March 16th 2009 the day after our session popcorn Sutton took his own life to say I was shocked at the news would be an understatement it took me several days just to process the information these images are among the very last images of moonshining legend Marvin popcorn Sutton who died March 16 2009 may he rest in peace buck when Sutton was best known for his appearances in documentaries on the History Channel and has booked me in my liquor you may have seen him recently on the serious moonshiners on the Discovery Channel but the people of East Tennessee in Western North Carolina knew him for his moonshine for many years it was considered the best shine you could buy and you were lucky if you get your hands on some the california-based company that hired me was in the process of brewing popcorn shine legally and they needed marketing images of the master before he reported to prison when I arrived at the property I was invited in by popcorn's wife popcorn looked frail and weak he was lying on a sofa wrapped in a blanket I was told that he'd been ill which in the South usually means that you're dying of something or could die of something before you just have a cold it wasn't clear the popcorn didn't look well he sat up slowly got his feet on the floor and screamed something almost unintelligible it was loud it was crass and it was a question and I'm not gonna repeat it here but suffice to say it was something about what I like to eat I was born and raised in the south I knew this was a test a test to see how I react to his crassness and the question without skipping a beat I replied damn right I do well good popcorn said because if he didn't I'd say you was a no-good son of a from there we hit it off fine and popcorn gave me two and a half hours the last full day of his life he showed me around his property old run-down cars shacks powd houses and tools of every shape form and fashion he tried to sell me everything and anything I laid eyes on and all the while I continued to capture image after image of this old man in his world poplin was quick to ask what I thought was poked through the front of his signature hat I thought it was a bone of some kind the popcorn laughed and said no it's a dried raccoon pecker at first glance it looked like a cheap digital watch but it wasn't it was the electronic monitor the feds used to keep popcorn under house arrest while popcorn waited to go to federal prison he was under house arrest and he was only allowed to leave his property once a week on Mondays to visit his doctor our session was on a Sunday March 15 on Monday March 16th popcorn got into his car as he would any other Monday as if he was going to the doctor's office instead of the doctor's office he drove to a remote part of his property and as I was told he ran a garden hose from the exhaust to the window of his car he was found dead in his car late that afternoon since I first published these images I've been asked many times if popcorn seemed resigned or morose I don't know if he was resigned or even morose but he didn't seem tired almost exhausted and often his bright blue eyes were lost somewhere in the distance I assume they were focused on the task that he knew lay ahead popcorn Sutton was a man who did things his way including ending his own life I'm just grateful that he chose to give me two and a half hours at the end rest in peace popcorn [Music] you

Channel: Andy Armstrong

Views: 2,518,677

Keywords: popcorn sutton, marvin popcorn sutton, andy armstrong, moonshine, moonshiner, photographs

Id: ycWVgWmPTUU

Length: 5min 42sec (342 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 10 2012