Born in Ohio in 1922, James Edward Baker led a colourful life as an adult. He shot down 13 Japanese fighter planes in the second world war. He auditioned as Tarzan for a Hollywood movie. He killed a man using judo in 1955, and then killed another man in 1963 and was convicted of manslaughter. He had his hands legally registered as lethal weapons. He robbed anywhere between two and 11 banks. He became a successful restaurateur and a pioneer of vegetarian dining, with customers including John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Marlon Brando. And in the early 70s he founded...