Stories: Not Too Far From The Ocean
The End of Polio? • I Was a Long-boarder • The Draft: What's Your Problem? • Timothy Leary? • To Ski or Not to Ski • Butch and Sundance • Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! • Arrivals • It's Just a Car • Fish On! • Music Musings • Walter Mitty Redux • Clamming and Crabbing • Grandpop: Can We Talk?
Timothy Leary?
By 1965, I had transferred from Santa Monica College to Valley State College, now known as California State University, Northridge. When I reached senior status, I joined the yearbook staff and co-artdirected the college yearbook with my friend Toby. It was 1967, Ronald Reagan was our governor, the Vietnam War was escalating, and we were immersed in the counterculture of the 1960s. We decided to try something different for the yearbook, so in addition to student articles and images of campus life, we decided to try and interview people who were making headlines in the day.
Our faculty advisor supported the idea, and we felt excited to get started. After a few meetings and phone calls from our student editor, everything began to fall into place. Governor Ronald Reagan agreed to meet with us, as did the controversial psychologist Timothy Leary, who was then in New York.
Ken, the yearbook editor, and Toby flew to Sacramento to interview Governor Reagan. Upon their return, I remember Toby telling me that Reagan had a jar of jellybeans on his desk to help him quit smoking. You can even buy a Reagan jellybean jar on Amazon these days! Toby and Ken brought back a great interview and images of Reagan for the yearbook.
I was eager to be part of the interview with Timothy Leary, and the school paid for our flights to New York—go figure. We flew into New York and took a cab into the city, stopping at an Automat—the original fast food vending restaurant concept that has been gone for over 30 years. I'm not surprised that they are making a comeback with a 21st-century tech twist.
We arrived at The League for Spiritual Discovery in Greenwich Village, New York, in the early evening for a lecture by Dr. Timothy Leary. By way of background, he was an Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard in 1961, who coined the phrase, "Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out." Along with Dr. Richard Alpert, he had experimented with the then-little-known hallucinogenic LSD. As we know now, LSD affects the chemistry of the neurological system, giving users an intensified perception of their environment and visions of the past, including multicolored imagery. When news of Leary's experiments spread, Harvard ordered him to curtail his activities. When he refused, both he and Alpert were dismissed from Harvard.
After his talk, we met Leary and were invited to stay overnight at his residence, 80 miles north of the city, since we were scheduled to interview him the next day. We hitched a ride with some student followers in an old VW van to Leary's residence in Millbrook, a 4,000-acre estate donated by a wealthy supporter of the LSD cause. A mixture of adventure and trepidation washed over me as we headed into the unknown—what had I gotten myself into?
After what felt like hours, we arrived at Leary's mansion late in the evening. We were led into a large living room with a vast fireplace burning, and there were probably over 50 mattresses on the floor—some occupied, some not. We were told we could pick a mattress and sleep anywhere. So, we did, as we were exhausted.
When we woke up in the morning, we all felt hungry since we hadn't had dinner the previous night. I wandered into the communal kitchen and noticed large cats walking on the butcher block—Ah, can we go out for breakfast?
Fortunately, we connected with some student/devotees who were going into town, so we hitched a ride with them to a local grill, where we indulged in a large breakfast. Upon returning, we were given a tour of the Millbrook grounds, including the organic gardens, the 57-room mansion, and adjoining buildings where 60 to 80 people were living and beginning a new way of life. And, last but not least, we saw the meditation room, where someone was maintaining the LSD faith 24 hours a day.
The interview took place as expected in Leary's second-floor office at Millbrook. Ken, the editor, asked most of the questions while Toby and I frantically snapped as many images as possible with our 35mm Pentax cameras.
To me, this journey was more about the adventure rather than seeking some sort of spiritual enlightenment. However, there were moments, like when I smoked a bit of pot with some students from Penn State that I met after the interview.
I can't recall how we returned to the city for our trip back to California—maybe it was the pot? In any case, Toby and I spent our last night in New York at his aunt's house in the city.
Once back in California, we decided to call the yearbook "SOL"—sunshine in Spanish. I designed the cover and enjoyed the process as it was probably my first printed design piece. I also have a 1/4" magnetic tape of the interview with Leary, and I'm thinking about what I should do with it.
PDF of the interview we had with Timothy Leary
