Dr. Graybones And His Curious Knapsack is Sold Out!

We just received word from Deep Vellum Books that the White Rock Zine Machine zines is completely sold out!

That means all of the signed first editions of Dr. Graybones and His Curious Knapsack are SOLD OUT!

But don't worry, we're looking into publishing a second edition with a slightly bigger format, which will give us more room for additional text.

We're researching a few micro grants to help cover the production cost.

Lisa Huffaker at the White Rock Zine Machine is already corralling a new batch of writers and artists for her third flight of zines. Check out their website for updates.

Dr Graybones and His Curious Knapsack

A Journal Of Giant Toadstools

Lavish illustrations of giant toadstools fill the journal of Dr. Graybones, a hobo who road the Southern rails between 1943 to 1953.

Posted here are a few of the sketches pulled from his journal.


"Everyone left after the water turned sour. No one camps here anymore"















It appears he had multiple encounters with what he refers to as Giant Toadstools. Many of these he graphically illustrates.


"The oil covers everything except the giant toadstool"

"It's not all the junk, it's the car that these toadstools like"



A small catalog of Dr. Graybones' drawings and personal effects will be published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute in conjunction with the White Rock Zine Machine.


Subscribe to the World Of Nomadic Fungi for more details.

Sam Gray Riding the Rails

After his wife and child died and the government took away his family farm Sam Gray had no home left to return to so he began hopping freight trains, utilized the network of tracks sprawling across the Southern States to keep ahead of his war induced necrosis. He survived by foraging and doing odd jobs. Occasionally he used his experience as a combat medic to help people in need.


As time passes, people along the tracks began to refer to him as Dr. Graybones due in part to his downcast nature and his ability to set broken bones.

During his wanderings Sam kept a journal where he recorded over a dozen encounters with what he called "Giant toadstools growing on automobiles'.

In the summer of 1953 Sam approached the Rev. P. Fowler who ran the soup kitchen in Talladega Alabama. He asked the Reverend to safeguard his knapsack. The Reverend having heard of Sam's good reputation gladly accepted the duty.

Sam left the church and was never heard from again.

The complete biography of Sam Gray - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack is published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute. The first edition is available through the White Rock Zine Machine.

Drawings of Giant Toadstools by Dr. Graybones

"This toadstool seems to like that abandoned car and all the rubbish"

Between 1943 and 1953 a hobo known as Dr Graybones drew more than a dozen pictures of the "Giant Toadstools" he encountered while hopping freight trains. Posted here are few drawing pulled from his journal.

"Empty drums, rusting metal, sticky rubber, and a massive toadstool."

"I'm half frozen and half starved, it must be Christmas"

A small catalog of Dr. Graybones' drawings and personal effects will be published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute in conjunction with the White Rock Zine Machine.

The complete biography of Sam Gray - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack is published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute. The first edition is available through the White Rock Zine Machine.

Subscribe to the World Of Nomadic Fungi for more details.

Publication Of Dr. Graybones And His Curious Knapsack

The Nomadic Fungi Institute is very happy to announce the publication of Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack.

Dr. Graybones was a hobo, hopping freight trains from 1943 - 1953. During that time he kept a journal where he graphically rendered  several of his encounters with peculiarly large toadstools.

This exciting mini-bio will debut as part of the White Rock Zine Machine October 7th at Deep Vellum Books in Dallas TX. The Nomadic Fungi Institute has worked in conjunction with the White Rock Zine Machine to make this publication possible.

Sam Gray - Farmer - WW II Combat Medic - Hobo

Samuel Gray was born on August 23, 1921 at his family's farm in Moss Springs Tennessee. He was drafted into the US Army the day after his twenty first birthday in 1941. Before leaving for boot camp he married Janet Rowbark. She became pregnant with their first and only child Carolyn.

At bootcamp Sam was given eight weeks of medical training and promoted to the rank of Field Medic First Class. He was deployed to the South of France in January 1942.

In April the US Government took possession of the Gray farmstead as well as the town of Moss Springs as part of a 90 square mile land acquisition act. This land was used for the top secret nuclear research and refinement facility that was later to be known as the Manhattan Project.

The Gray family was given four weeks to vacate the property. Sam's father moved to Nashville in hopes of finding work. Janet and her baby moved to Pikeville to stay in a converted toolshed on her Uncle Bill's farm. In December both Janet and the baby developed scarlet fever and died. Their were buried in Pikeville.

Sam was shot on the morning on January 2nd 1943. He was treated in the field hospital for a wound to his left hand. They removed his small finger. from there he was shipped to the Crile Military Hospital in the United States. He remained there for three months where he was treated for combat fatigue and psychoneurotic disorder.

On May 14th, Sam was honorably discharged and given a train ticket to Nashville.

He stayed one night in Nashville at his father's single room apartment. The next morning he boarded a train with a ticket to Pikeville. Sam wrote the following in his journal:

"The train pulled into Pikeville, and my eyes filled with tears, my ears filled with explosions, and my body turned to stone. In time I realized the train was moving again, and I knew I would never set foot in Pikeville".

So began Sam's life as a hobo...

The complete biography of Sam Gray - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack is published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute. The first edition is available through the White Rock Zine Machine.