Voting Station

Curtis Howe Springer

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (December 2, 1896-August 19, 1985)
    Born in Birmingham, Alabama
    American radio evangelist, self-proclaimed medical doctor and Methodist minister
    Founded the Zzyzx Mineral Springs resort located within Southern California's Mojave Desert
    Nicknamed 'The King of Quacks'

Why he might be annoying:

    He was divorced.
    He constantly falsified his education credentials.
    Although all his lectures were free, he would ask for donations part-way through his speeches.
    He often attempted to sell audience members private courses in psychoanalysis for $25 per session.
    He established a 'health spa' called Zzyzx where he would broadcast his syndicated radio program and sell potions that he claimed would promote good health.
    The potions he sold were really just a blend of celery, carrot and parsley juices.
    In 1974, the federal government arrested him on grounds that he was illegally building on federal property.
    Two publications, the journal 'Word Ways' and the book Weird California,' have incorrectly reported his death year as 1986.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His son became a judge in Montgomery Alabama.
    He used his radio broadcasts to gin up support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.
    You have to admit for someone who had fraudulent education credits, the facilities in Zzyzx were pretty elaborate and state-of-the-art.
    In 1976, he Bureau of Land Management allowed the California State University to convert the facilities into the Desert Studies Center, which was designed to study desert life and geology.

Credit: Birdienest81


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 12 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 93.33% Annoying