“We Are What You Have Made Us!”

From Surfing Socialiate to Charlie’s Chief Assassin: The story of Manson Family member Nancy Pitman

In early 1968, Charles Manson was living in the Topanga Beach area of Los Angeles with several young women. The former pimp and wanna-be musician had hoped to connect with influential people in the music and recording industry in Southern California. One of the early people he met was 15-year old Deirdre Shaw — the daughter of famed actress Angela Lansbury.

Deirdre (nicknamed DiDi) introduced her good friend Nancy Pitman to the Manson Family. “Nancy and Deirdre came from Malibu, bringing food from their parents’ cupboards.’They’ll never miss it,’ Didi assured us. ‘They don’t even know it’s there.’ The girls also presented us with high quality cannabis and LSD. They knew all the best dealers at the high school. Deirdre was of strong English-Irish stock, resilient, and good-natured. She wore jeans and soft blouses — too adventurous for dresses — and she looked like a child when she grinned. On a warm afternoon, she sat on our roof strumming a guitar and singing to herself, while below, Charlie and I listened, and he said tenderly, ‘Look at her. She’s ten times the actress her mother is without even trying’… Nancy was tougher, more headstrong and feisty. She grew up the only girl in a large family of brothers. She was petite and pretty, but a scrapper, full of stick-to-it-ness.” — Reflexion by Lynette Fromme ©2018 Peasenhall Press