Quote Originally Posted by Fengzi
Another interesting guy was Ken Kesey. He was pretty much the West Coast version of Timothy Leary, although the two didn't care for each other much.

Ken Kesey was the guy who wrote the book One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest. He was part of a U.S. Army experiment where they would test a certain unmentionable substance (also enjoyed by Ken Kesey ) on willing volunteers hoping to find something they could use to fuck with the enemy's head. Kesey liked this unmentionable substance and promoted it on the West Coast. He had these legendary parties, funded largely by his book, and it was at these parties that the Grateful Dead got their start.

Anyone interested in the late '60's hippy culture, complete with unmentionable substances and psychedelic music, should read the Tom Wolfe book "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". It's all about Ken Kesey, his wild parties, the San Francisco hippy scene, Kesey's meeting with Leary, etc. It's a true story but extremely entertaining. I'd consider it a must read for anyone on this board.

edit: Dead Heads will recognize the lyrics "The bus came by, I got on, that's when it all began, there was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never never land" Read the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and you'll understand this completely
I have been wanting to read Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for a long time.
It is hard to say anything else on this topic