Member-only story
Before She Was ‘Sexy Sadie’
The early life of the Manson Family’s Susan Atkins
In November 1967, Charles Manson was living in San Francisco with three women (Mary Brunner, Lynette Fromme and Patricia Krenwinkel). The foursome were preparing to leave the Bay Area that week, headed on the road in their old school bus (converted into a mobile love pad) and eventually down to Los Angeles, where Charlie had hopes of scoring a record deal.
The first week of November, the four attended a party in the Haight. Charlie pulled out his guitar and began singing The Shadow of Your Smile, a jazz standard performed by greats like Tony Bennett. Across the room, a dark-haired girl with haunted eyes started to float toward Manson, drawn to him and his music.
Susan Denise Atkins was born May 7, 1948 in San Gabriel, California. Her father, Edward John Atkins, was born in Perkins County, South Dakota in 1920, and her mother (three years younger), the former Jeanne Frances Jett, hailed from Kansas City, Missouri. Edward was drafted into World War 2 in February 1942 at the age of 21. He and Jeanne married in 1944, and their first child (Jon Michael) was born the following year. Susan was born three years later, and their third child, Steven, was born in 1954.
