"I never thought anything of it," Barbara Stiles said of her husband's deformities. "No different than any other man. He's better than some."
They young Stiles says he doesn't want to be the next Lobster Man. He loves to play arcade games. He wants to get into carnival concession sales when he grows up.
We are the only family on medical record in the world to be born like this inheritably. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
His daughter, Cathy, also has inherited her father's deformity She is 23 years old and used to travel with her father - nine months on, three months off.
She attends a business college in Massachusetts now, he says. An operation to fit her legs with prostheses was unsuccessful because of the delicate bone structure of her legs.
Doctors at hospitals across the country have tested Stiles' family members countless times over the years, Mr. Stiles said. The problem centers on a chromosome deficiency although no one has been able to locate exactly where or what it is.
Mr. Stiles and his two deformed children have been featured in a number of picture books, including "We're Not Like Others," "World's Strangest People," "Forbidden Images, " and "In Search of The Monkey Girl."
The business hasn't been doing well in recent years, he says, and his back and voice are getting tired. He's been saying virtually the same thing for 44 years.
Maybe next year he'll come back form Tamps, Fla. with a whole new show, he says. This time, though, he won't perform.
"An illusion show. That's what people are into these days."
