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Yosemite Valley, California, September 25: During a weekend layover in San Francisco, Gersten found time for some adventure at Yosemite’s famed Half Dome. Park rangers briefly detained him for climbing without a permit.
Bristol, England, October 11: Billing himself “Joey the Magnificent,” Gersten joined his cousin Gertrude for several days with the Dorchester Traveling Circus & Tent Show. Their specialty: the human cannonball.
Kuruman, South Africa, November 3: Gersten was photographed with his faithful guide during a big-game safari in the bush southwest of Johannesburg. Eyewitnesses say the recoil from his rifle knocked him to the ground.
Beijing, China, September 12: Gersten reportedly paid more than $60 for the opportunity to don the emperor’s clothes and pose for a state tourism photographer in the Forbidden City.
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Al Jawf, Saudi Arabia, October 26: Never one to miss a buisness opportunity, Gersten put the hard sell on a Bedouin sheik with money to burn. The deal: a multimillion-dollar bond sale with very big commissions.
(A)Bangkok, Thailand, August 30: Miami tour guide encounters Gersten wandering through the notorious Patpong sex district, bleary eyed and grinning.
(B)Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 15: Gersten hailed as national hero after gunning down 49 street urchins in a single evening.
(C)Nome, Alaska, November 9: Gersten reportedly caught freebasing baby harp seals.
(D)Hobart, Tasmania, October 1: Balding, overweight man calling himself “Joe” rents an all-terrain vehicle and vanishes into the wilderness.
(E)Mogadishu, Somalia, September 6: Gersten pulls a gun from his briefcase and declares himself a warlord. Other clan leaders, however, refuse to show him the secret warlord handshake.
(F)La Paz, Bolivia, October 7: Spotted while club-hopping with a mysterious associate wearing a false nose and eyebrows, Gersten later denies ever having met Pablo Escobar.