Flower performer and perennial Austin City Council candidate 'Crazy Carl' Hickerson dies

In a city that cherishes its eccentrics, flower-twirling Carl Henry "Crazy Carl" Hickerson, who died Monday of multiple conditions at age 79, secured a singular place in the heart of Austin's entertainment district. As a perennial candidate for political office, Hickerson cheered the masses, yet many of the actions that he proposed were not all that crazy.

On East Sixth Street, the colorfully — sometimes scantily — costumed Hickerson went from selling carnations and roses from a plastic bucket to becoming an integral part of the Esther's Follies sketch comedy show for more than 30 years.

Hickerson's trick of twirling a flower stem on his fingertips was incorporated into the sketches staged outside the theater's picture windows. His antics evolved into a sort of warm-up act for the main comedic event.

"Carl was the local eccentric before being eccentric was cool," Ray Anderson, star of Esther's Follies' headliner magic act, wrote on Facebook the day after Hickerson's death. "Whether selling flowers on a Sixth Street corner wearing nothing but a bra and thong, or running for mayor of Austin, Carl did it with his own special and unique flair."

Hickerson: 'I’m the politician who will put your foot in his mouth'

One of eight children, Hickerson was born on July 14, 1944, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He attended four high schools, including Austin High, where competed on the swim team. He swam for the University of Texas, but flunked out, switched to Odessa College, and then returned to manage the UT swim team before flunking out again.

After a third "enforced withdrawal," Hickerson ran for the Austin City Council for the first time, and lost.

“I’m the politician who will put your foot in his mouth,” Hickerson joked in his campaign speeches.

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In Austin, San Antonio, New York City and Amsterdam, Hickerson developed a public persona that matched his sparkling eyes, oversized eyeglasses, long, tapering beard and balding pate. He sold sandwiches at the UT Art Building and a lot of flowers on the streets.

"Crazy Carl ran for Austin City Council eight times and for mayor twice during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s," wrote American-Statesman humor columnist John Kelso in 2014. "In 1990, he ran as a write-in candidate for Texas governor, supporting the legalization of pot. So he was ahead of his time (make that a head of his time)."

Documentary: 'How Austin is and how it ended up this way'

Mike Woolf and Andrew Yates co-directed an hourlong documentary, “Crazy Carl and his Man-Boobs," about Austin’s longest-running celebrity eccentric.

Crazy Carl’s story, Yates said, is woven into the history of the old Austin and “gives us a fresh perspective about how Austin is and how it ended up this way, and a large part of it is because of the old hippies.”

In many ways, Hickerson's efforts antedated those of another street entertainer, Albert Leslie Cochran, an unhoused cross-dressing activist known simply as "Leslie," who ran for mayor of Austin three times. In 2000, running against Kirk Watson for mayor, he won 7.75% of the vote. Cochran died in 2012.

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"I was lucky enough to interview Carl for my upcoming book about Austin," wrote Ann Lo on Facebook. "He was a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge about old Austin and its history. And Crazy Carl wasn't really crazy. He was eccentric for sure, but a brilliant man who lived out of his imagination. Also a visionary who advocated for needed change before anyone else did, and then watched others implement those changes later and take credit for them."

Indeed, Hickerson' promises included building geothermal energy plants, fixing the hike-and-bike trails, timing all traffic lights and putting police officers on bicycles.

More: Kelso: Documentary honors Crazy Carl Hickerson, Austin’s pooh-bah of eccentricity

His runs for office were openings for merry-making and performative craziness.

"He said if he ever got elected, people would get mad at him," wrote his sister, Melanie Hickerson, on his Facebook page, "and he could say: 'It’s not my fault, I didn’t vote for me.'"

Carl and Charlotte: 'Scrabble, baseball, animals and dope'

Hickerson took care of his longtime partner, Charlotte Ferris, a quadriplegic who had polio.

"As far as I'm concerned, Charlotte took care of Carl at least as much as he cared for her," Melanie Hickerson told the Statesman on Tuesday. "He was physically stronger, but she was a force of nature in mind and wit. I believe they were together 31 years."

Ferris died in 2022.

Landon Peterson, who edited the Hickerson documentary, told the Statesman, “Charlotte said the things that really held their relationship together were Scrabble, baseball, animals and dope."

Hickerson leaves behind two daughters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Hickerson and Ferris rescued many animals over the years; donations can be made to Austin Pets Alive in his name.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin's Esther's Follies regular 'Crazy Carl' Hickerson dead at 79