Wayback Guest : Michelle Cohen-Wind
Hey Hipsters and Cool Cats we have a special treat for ya in today’s posting. I met a groovy chick over at one of those online commune..ities. She had posted about her meeting with the great gonzo king himself…HUNTER S. THOMPSON and a year later the electric kool aid king…KEN KESEY!!!
Allow me to step aside and give Michelle the stage so she can tell her tales…Lets give Michelle a big Wayback welcome!!!
I met Hunter Thompson in Aspen, Co. 1967, after he had written the book “Hells Angels”, and I had met Ken Kesey in 1968 in Springfield, Or. on his commune, the two were friends, and I had met them on separate terms. Introduced by different parties, so neither one knew I had met the other. In retrospect it’s ironic.
Their unpredictable behavior, their unrestful wild spirits, leaves us wanting more from them, idolizing them, these “Two Merry Pranksters” make us dig deep to search our
own behavior and we come to realize what fearless, powerful men these were struggling with their demons within.
“Two Merry Pranksters” by: Michelle Cohen-Wind
copyright 2009 michelle cohen-wind
Hunter Thompson,
what can I say,
you don’t get to meet
someone like him everyday.
Driving up red mountain,
my traveling partner Gene said,
“let’s go stop in and see an old friend”.
Approaching the cabin two very large
doberman’s suddenly appeared.
Hunter came out and said,
“Don’t be afraid”, and invited us in.
He was tall, lanky and gangling,
his hair cropped very short,
so different from our long hair,
I thought.
The first thing I noticed
as we entered the oversized room
was a huge coffee table
made from the core of
a redwood tree.
A thick book titled “NIXON”
lay among the stacks of
reading debris, piles of books,
magazines, papers everywhere
you could see.
Hats and caps hung everywhere
on the walls, and a shotgun
stood in every corner of the house.
His tiny son ran about,
with his diaper on and nothing else.
Like a little wild Indian boy,
he held an 8″ blade hunting knife.
I commented to Hunter,
“Is it alright?”, He said,
“how else will he learn”.
I will never forget that,
it was a poignant statement.
We hung in the kitchen for awhile,
old friends talked and then
we were gone.
“Ken Kesey is Dead ” By: Michelle Cohen-Wind
copyright 2009 michelle cohen -wind
Ken Kesey is dead,
so they said,
I remember clearly
driving up to his ’stead-
He stood there at the gate
with a shock of yellow hair
black were his clothes,
his skin was so fair,
Garrison belt, harley boots,
leather vest, bare chest,
“come on in”, he said, with
a smile, come into the barn
and set awhile.
His boys came in maybe 11, and 10
they lit up a doobie, and passed it on.
I was 19 at the time, May 1968,
just visiting with some friends of mine.
Up to Springfield, Oregon we came,
tripping and driving from San Francisco,
laughing all the way.
Honestly, I didn’t know who Ken Kesey was-
he asked me to stay on, and live on the commune.
But he had a wife, and a mistress named “Bubbles”
So we spent the day, tripping away,
He said”you can live here and stay”, and showed
me a shelf in the barn, where I could sleep.
He showed me his pink rabbits, and yellow chickens,
and he pushed me down a dark hole from the 3 story barn,
I felt like Alice In Wonderland.
Everything was communal-
the bathroom had 10 toilets in a row, open to anyone
that had to go, sinks and shower without any walls.
The kitchen was one long hall- with a huge flower
on one end, and when you went near it, it lit up.
The day came to an end, the trip wore off,
but it was an interesting day meeting Ken Kesey.
Far Out Michelle…such groovy writings…Thanks for sharing with all of us here at the Way Back Machine.
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