Free Republic

As an undiscovered artist, he is better situated than most: living in a rented, 2,000-square-foot house in the Hollywood Hills off Mulholland Drive, with a Porsche Panamera in the driveway, plenty of natural light and a pool house he has transformed into an art studio. From the edge of the sloping property — it was leased for $12,000 a month starting last June 15, according to the homeowner — he has a view onto the San Fernando Valley below: Burbank and Universal Studios to the east, the 405 freeway to the west. For years, vodka and cocaine were constant companions....

t age 13, Montez King took a machine shop class at a Baltimore high school that later landed him a job at what was formerly Teledyne Inc., earning $10 an hour. Back in 1991, that was pretty good money for a teen. A few years later, King was earning $16 an hour as a full-time apprentice machinist, while Teledyne paid for him to attend community college two nights a week. At age 18, he had saved enough to buy his own home. King credits that apprenticeship with giving him the opportunity to make a solid living. But he acknowledges that...