cannabisnews.com: Twilight of Hippiedom Twilight of Hippiedom Posted by CN Staff on March 03, 2003 at 23:05:41 PT By Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle Lewis County, Tenn. -- Stephen Gaskin, founder of the largest hippie commune in America, had finished his tofu burger, eaten his stir-fried veggies and was digging into a bowl of soy milk ice cream. The former San Francisco State lecturer and freelance philosopher then pushed back from the lunch table in his Tennessee home, glanced over at his wife, Ina May, and issued a bold prophecy: Millions of '60s idealists who "sold out" in the 1980s and 1990s -- the ones who went out and got real jobs -- are poised to turn on, tune in and drop out once again. And they're all going to need some place to live. Gaskin has a dream, and knows that if he builds it, they will come. Get ready for Rosinante, a retirement village for aging hippies. "When they write the '60s history centuries from now, the hippies will have a name like the Renaissance or the Reformation," said Gaskin, who named his latest dream after Don Quixote's horse. "We did change the world, and we're not finished changing the world." To understand the dream, one must understand the quixotic journey. Those of you who were hanging around in the late 1960s and early 1970s may recall Gaskin, who led hundreds of hippies on an infamous 1971 bus caravan across America. Hippiedom had blossomed in the cool gray city of love, and Gaskin's eclectic lectures on mysticism, politics, alternative lifestyles and LSD took on a life of their own. It was called the Monday Night Class, or "tripping instructions," and as many as 2,000 stoned seekers followed Gaskin as he took his show to the Straight Theater on Haight Street, the Oddfellows Hall and finally out to Playland by the Beach. The tribe eventually landed in the green rolling hills of southern Tennessee, a magical place where the rednecks learned to love those shaggy survivors of the '60s. Dubbed the tie-dyed Amish, Gaskin and flock wound up in one of the poorest counties in Tennessee, where it was easier to find cheap moonshine than Orange Sunshine, where hillbillies outnumbered hippies. But the land was $70 an acre, and the locals didn't shoot them on sight. So they stayed and founded the Farm. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/gaskin.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion WriterPublished: Sunday, March 2, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 27 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:The Farmhttp://www.thefarm.org/Twilight of Hippiedom - Pictureshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hippie.htmGore's Hay Day - Salon Magazinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4731.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by Prop203 on March 04, 2003 at 06:17:05 PT Error Fix http://www.currentargus.com/Stories/0,1413,161%257E9264%257E1218880,00.htmlNew MexicoOpps sorry.. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Prop203 on March 04, 2003 at 06:15:36 PT OT: Good news http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1008867&t=Iowa+%2F+Illinois&c=24,1008867Illinois Decrim plan!==========================http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1008867&t=Iowa+%2F+Illinois&c=24,1008867New Mexicos Med PLan! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by JSM on March 04, 2003 at 05:13:10 PT Poll http://channels.netscape.com/ns/crime/package.jsp?name=news/health/potNetscape poll and article about Ed. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment