Summer of Love II

Of course there had been casualties. If you were already unstable, taking Acid was dangerous, and exposed "something that was already there." There was the media frenzy surrounding Art Linkletter's daughter. I found myself wondering, almost everyone in this crowd must have known an acid casualty.
The Haight was overwhelmed by thousands of teens who converged on the Haight from across the country. This was largely spurred by the media. Articles in Time and Life magazine unwittingly encouraged teens to go to San Francisco that summer. CBS Reports walked Haight Street, with people mugging for the cameras.
The City and the neighborhood weren't prepared, and most of the kids who came here certainly weren't ready. Selvin says there were casualties among those emotionally unprepared. San Francisco was still a relatively provincial town. The cops just wanted a way to get rid of the human influx and the problems that came with it. Just the amount of traffic was a problem. Haight Street was a constant traffic jam. It was hard to walk down the street.
What was a Hippie? Back then, no one would admit they were a "Hippie." O'Donnell: "They were only half as hip as us." Again the Beat Generation is discussed. Without the Fifties, and the pioneering of the Beats, there would have been no Sixties. Sure, the bands played that day: The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, but a big attraction to the Be-In was the presence of Allan Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Kandel and other Beat pioneers.
Selvin talks about a Chronicle series by George Gilbert, "I Was a Hippie!" A series of articles was a big deal in the newspapers back then. Ads on the news-racks advertised the publishing event. Gilbert did live with a commune near Haight Street, but his only concession to Hippie garb was to wear a pendant. Like the tourist bus tours to the Haight, the series was a big hit. Marilyn Lucas says she still has some of the news-rack ads.
Getz and Selvin repeat that the concept of Hippie and especially "The Summer of Love" were inventions of the media. The Human Be-In had been a seminal event, but TV and Time Magazine had more to do with the Haight invasion than the Human Be-In. After the summer, frustrated locals had the 'Death of Hippie' event in October. Selvin describes the wake for "Hippie." A group marched a casket down Haight Street. Will there be a commemoration of that event in 2007? By then, those left from the original days were sick of the scene. They hoped 'Death of Hippie' would end it. Many had already moved away. It was a desperate attempt to end the problems of The Summer of Love.
There were changes in the drug scene. More hard core drugs like Speed and Heroin were being used. Drug dealers were shooting each other in a struggle for territory. The Haight neighborhood deteriorated. "All of a sudden smart people are shooting up heroin? Political activists are shooting up speed." The old head shops had boarded up window fronts.
So, how about now? Did the events of the Sixties have any effect? It looks like nothing much has changed: An unpopular war. If anything the gulf between the haves and have-nots has increased. Crime and violence in the cities has gotten worse. It's a topic that hits home in San Francisco, which is suffering a recent wave of fatal shootings. Did all the high hopes and dreams of the Sixties result in anything positive? Had anything really changed?
Selvin points out that if nothing else the Sixties gave birth to the PC computer tech revolution, "especially the scene in the South Bay." He talks about the book 'What the Dormouse Said' by John Markoff. Markoff says that LSD and the psychedelic scene had a huge effect on the tech revolution. Many of the innovations came from people from Palo Alto who were some of the first to take LSD in America. They had also been exposed to Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. One theory of computer history says that the GUI, mouse and some other innovations were inspired by psychedelia.
The events of the Sixties had inspired some progress in Civil Rights. The Women's Movement and Gay Liberation were created, and used some of the tactics of the anti-Vietnam war movement.
Selvin mentions that the CIA was very interested in the effects of LSD. They were "one of the largest experimenters." He mentions the books, 'Acid Dreams' (Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain) and 'Storming Heaven' by Jay Stevens. There were the infamous CIA experiments in San Francisco. The genii came out of the bottle in Palo Alto with Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
Peder Jones disputes the later stereotype of the hapless stoned Hippie. He tells of a former roommate of his who later developed the Linear Accelerator. "We wound up in jobs that didn't exist when we entered college." He also talks about the communal movement. It required a new way of thinking and cooperation with groups of people. Jones is an educational publisher, and he says that he's attempting to bring articulate and advanced methods that were inspired by the Sixties to education. Selvin: "Well, when exactly are you going to start doing that?"
O'Donnell tells of bands coming back from the road and saying that "It" was spreading across the country. The members of bands could see changes in the crowds they played for. Something was happening, and it was spreading across the nation.
But, inevitably it came to making a buck. At a meeting in Berkeley, the Time magazine article was discussed. 100,000 were predicted to come to the Haight that summer. One guy says, "If we can only get one dollar from each one." Getz remarks, that is exactly when the capitalization of the culture began. Remember the Love Burger?
It seems kind of early, but Selvin calls for questions from the audience. But first, Marilyn Lucas, who has been pretty quiet jumps in. It was all about sharing she tells us. Love. There is no describing the good vibes and how great it was. Especially in the beginning, the early days. Nothing was being sold at the Be-In. It was all about a sense of community. She tries to describe an idyllic time.
I first visited San Francisco in 1971. "You just missed it!" I was told. There was still some of the spirit in the air. It's hard to imagine the utopian world that Marilyn Lucas was talking about. The past was always better in San Francisco. Almost whenever you got to San Francisco, you just missed it. One local says that "San Francisco was perfect the day before I got here." There were a lot of people in this audience tonight who had lived at a time that was becoming mythical.
A guy in the audience talks about The Diggers. They once bought 50 turkeys and made 1,000 sandwiches and gave them away for free. ("I had one of those sandwiches!" says Peder Jones.) It was amazing, how cheaply you could live. Again it's mentioned how cheap rent was. And you could get clothes at the second hand shops.
Another guy agrees about Owsley's generosity and the purity of his Acid. He tells us of his Owsley Acid experience. He can vouch for the purity. With friends, they put Acid in a wine bottle. "I learned that gel caps don't totally dissolve," he told us. He took the last swig from the wine bottle, and it was a very interesting five days. "There was a question in there somewhere," he says, "but I can't remember."
One woman goes off on the CIA LSD connection. "Have you seen 'Good Shepherd yet?" It's the real story about the CIA, she tells us. "Do you want to know what happens?" Several in the crowd shout No! Her story will have to wait. San Francisco is not a City for movie spoilers.
Jones talks about a friend who invented a new kind of granola. "Granola was everything back then." Selvin: "The Revolution was not about breakfast cereal." Jones talks about the guy inventing a new cereal and making a fortune. He talks more about the guy and his other discoveries. Selvin: "So the Revolution really WAS about breakfast cereal!"
A guy right in front of us jumps up. "How can you have a celebration of the Be-In and The Summer of Love without Wavy Gravy!!!" He sounds outraged. He doesn't really get an answer. I know Wavy Gravy has had some health problems lately, including a hip replacement. Someone else yells, "These are the good old days!" an old Wavy Gravy line.
There was some discussion about how different attitudes were back then. What happened to the philosophy of not getting ahead, that the rat race wasn't worth it? Remember sitting and listening to record after record? Someone tells of a friend's comment: "My retirement was between the ages of 20 and 35."
A young lady near the back of the crowd is jumping up and down. "I want to say something!" Selvin: "Well, speak your mind." She's 17, and visiting from Houston. "First of all I want to thank you all for being there." She's writing a report for high school about the Summer of Love. "I wasn't there, but I wish I was." She wants us to know that there is still hope, that many of her generation are fascinated by the history and spirit of the Sixties. The crowd responds with applause. She hopes that her generation can participate in any celebration of the Summer of Love. This sets off a mini-lovefest and more applause from the crowd.
A guy with a mustache jumps out of his seat. He looks angry, or maybe he's always intense. "The celebration will be multi-generational!" He yells. Everyone is invited.
There's a guy in a tie dye tee shirt with long gray hair at the end of our row. He gets up. I had spotted him going up to the stage and taking pictures. "Will this be podcast?" he asks. This brings a laugh. It made me wonder if the event was filmed, or at least taped for radio. I didn't see any cameras. Sure hope someone in the control room behind us taped it.
The whole presentation lasted an hour and a half. It was fun, and at times an inspiring evening. It was part reunion and certainly not a dry history lecture.
Selvin wraps it up. "The Hippie is seen around the world as an American icon, right up there with the cowboy, and San Francisco is a big part of that... Thanks for taking all that LSD!" and remember: "Ideas are never lost."
Of course there had been casualties. If you were already unstable, taking Acid was dangerous, and exposed "something that was already there." There was the media frenzy surrounding Art Linkletter's daughter. I found myself wondering, almost everyone in this crowd must have known an acid casualty.
The Haight was overwhelmed by thousands of teens who converged on the Haight from across the country. This was largely spurred by the media. Articles in Time and Life magazine unwittingly encouraged teens to go to San Francisco that summer. CBS Reports walked Haight Street, with people mugging for the cameras.
The City and the neighborhood weren't prepared, and most of the kids who came here certainly weren't ready. Selvin says there were casualties among those emotionally unprepared. San Francisco was still a relatively provincial town. The cops just wanted a way to get rid of the human influx and the problems that came with it. Just the amount of traffic was a problem. Haight Street was a constant traffic jam. It was hard to walk down the street.
What was a Hippie? Back then, no one would admit they were a "Hippie." O'Donnell: "They were only half as hip as us." Again the Beat Generation is discussed. Without the Fifties, and the pioneering of the Beats, there would have been no Sixties. Sure, the bands played that day: The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, but a big attraction to the Be-In was the presence of Allan Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Kandel and other Beat pioneers.
Selvin talks about a Chronicle series by George Gilbert, "I Was a Hippie!" A series of articles was a big deal in the newspapers back then. Ads on the news-racks advertised the publishing event. Gilbert did live with a commune near Haight Street, but his only concession to Hippie garb was to wear a pendant. Like the tourist bus tours to the Haight, the series was a big hit. Marilyn Lucas says she still has some of the news-rack ads.
Getz and Selvin repeat that the concept of Hippie and especially "The Summer of Love" were inventions of the media. The Human Be-In had been a seminal event, but TV and Time Magazine had more to do with the Haight invasion than the Human Be-In. After the summer, frustrated locals had the 'Death of Hippie' event in October. Selvin describes the wake for "Hippie." A group marched a casket down Haight Street. Will there be a commemoration of that event in 2007? By then, those left from the original days were sick of the scene. They hoped 'Death of Hippie' would end it. Many had already moved away. It was a desperate attempt to end the problems of The Summer of Love.
There were changes in the drug scene. More hard core drugs like Speed and Heroin were being used. Drug dealers were shooting each other in a struggle for territory. The Haight neighborhood deteriorated. "All of a sudden smart people are shooting up heroin? Political activists are shooting up speed." The old head shops had boarded up window fronts.
So, how about now? Did the events of the Sixties have any effect? It looks like nothing much has changed: An unpopular war. If anything the gulf between the haves and have-nots has increased. Crime and violence in the cities has gotten worse. It's a topic that hits home in San Francisco, which is suffering a recent wave of fatal shootings. Did all the high hopes and dreams of the Sixties result in anything positive? Had anything really changed?
Selvin points out that if nothing else the Sixties gave birth to the PC computer tech revolution, "especially the scene in the South Bay." He talks about the book 'What the Dormouse Said' by John Markoff. Markoff says that LSD and the psychedelic scene had a huge effect on the tech revolution. Many of the innovations came from people from Palo Alto who were some of the first to take LSD in America. They had also been exposed to Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. One theory of computer history says that the GUI, mouse and some other innovations were inspired by psychedelia.
The events of the Sixties had inspired some progress in Civil Rights. The Women's Movement and Gay Liberation were created, and used some of the tactics of the anti-Vietnam war movement.
Selvin mentions that the CIA was very interested in the effects of LSD. They were "one of the largest experimenters." He mentions the books, 'Acid Dreams' (Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain) and 'Storming Heaven' by Jay Stevens. There were the infamous CIA experiments in San Francisco. The genii came out of the bottle in Palo Alto with Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
Peder Jones disputes the later stereotype of the hapless stoned Hippie. He tells of a former roommate of his who later developed the Linear Accelerator. "We wound up in jobs that didn't exist when we entered college." He also talks about the communal movement. It required a new way of thinking and cooperation with groups of people. Jones is an educational publisher, and he says that he's attempting to bring articulate and advanced methods that were inspired by the Sixties to education. Selvin: "Well, when exactly are you going to start doing that?"
O'Donnell tells of bands coming back from the road and saying that "It" was spreading across the country. The members of bands could see changes in the crowds they played for. Something was happening, and it was spreading across the nation.
But, inevitably it came to making a buck. At a meeting in Berkeley, the Time magazine article was discussed. 100,000 were predicted to come to the Haight that summer. One guy says, "If we can only get one dollar from each one." Getz remarks, that is exactly when the capitalization of the culture began. Remember the Love Burger?
It seems kind of early, but Selvin calls for questions from the audience. But first, Marilyn Lucas, who has been pretty quiet jumps in. It was all about sharing she tells us. Love. There is no describing the good vibes and how great it was. Especially in the beginning, the early days. Nothing was being sold at the Be-In. It was all about a sense of community. She tries to describe an idyllic time.
I first visited San Francisco in 1971. "You just missed it!" I was told. There was still some of the spirit in the air. It's hard to imagine the utopian world that Marilyn Lucas was talking about. The past was always better in San Francisco. Almost whenever you got to San Francisco, you just missed it. One local says that "San Francisco was perfect the day before I got here." There were a lot of people in this audience tonight who had lived at a time that was becoming mythical.
A guy in the audience talks about The Diggers. They once bought 50 turkeys and made 1,000 sandwiches and gave them away for free. ("I had one of those sandwiches!" says Peder Jones.) It was amazing, how cheaply you could live. Again it's mentioned how cheap rent was. And you could get clothes at the second hand shops.
Another guy agrees about Owsley's generosity and the purity of his Acid. He tells us of his Owsley Acid experience. He can vouch for the purity. With friends, they put Acid in a wine bottle. "I learned that gel caps don't totally dissolve," he told us. He took the last swig from the wine bottle, and it was a very interesting five days. "There was a question in there somewhere," he says, "but I can't remember."
One woman goes off on the CIA LSD connection. "Have you seen 'Good Shepherd yet?" It's the real story about the CIA, she tells us. "Do you want to know what happens?" Several in the crowd shout No! Her story will have to wait. San Francisco is not a City for movie spoilers.
Jones talks about a friend who invented a new kind of granola. "Granola was everything back then." Selvin: "The Revolution was not about breakfast cereal." Jones talks about the guy inventing a new cereal and making a fortune. He talks more about the guy and his other discoveries. Selvin: "So the Revolution really WAS about breakfast cereal!"
A guy right in front of us jumps up. "How can you have a celebration of the Be-In and The Summer of Love without Wavy Gravy!!!" He sounds outraged. He doesn't really get an answer. I know Wavy Gravy has had some health problems lately, including a hip replacement. Someone else yells, "These are the good old days!" an old Wavy Gravy line.
There was some discussion about how different attitudes were back then. What happened to the philosophy of not getting ahead, that the rat race wasn't worth it? Remember sitting and listening to record after record? Someone tells of a friend's comment: "My retirement was between the ages of 20 and 35."
A young lady near the back of the crowd is jumping up and down. "I want to say something!" Selvin: "Well, speak your mind." She's 17, and visiting from Houston. "First of all I want to thank you all for being there." She's writing a report for high school about the Summer of Love. "I wasn't there, but I wish I was." She wants us to know that there is still hope, that many of her generation are fascinated by the history and spirit of the Sixties. The crowd responds with applause. She hopes that her generation can participate in any celebration of the Summer of Love. This sets off a mini-lovefest and more applause from the crowd.
A guy with a mustache jumps out of his seat. He looks angry, or maybe he's always intense. "The celebration will be multi-generational!" He yells. Everyone is invited.
There's a guy in a tie dye tee shirt with long gray hair at the end of our row. He gets up. I had spotted him going up to the stage and taking pictures. "Will this be podcast?" he asks. This brings a laugh. It made me wonder if the event was filmed, or at least taped for radio. I didn't see any cameras. Sure hope someone in the control room behind us taped it.
The whole presentation lasted an hour and a half. It was fun, and at times an inspiring evening. It was part reunion and certainly not a dry history lecture.
Selvin wraps it up. "The Hippie is seen around the world as an American icon, right up there with the cowboy, and San Francisco is a big part of that... Thanks for taking all that LSD!" and remember: "Ideas are never lost."