1. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters
Ah, Ken Kesey, one of the most iconic countercultural figures to grace the Beat Generation of the 1950s, and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey is famous primarily for two main reasons: drugs and writing. He authored the classic classroom text One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The inspiration for this book came while working nights at the Menlo Park Veteran’s Hospital. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative studies institutional processes and the human mind. He spent a lot of time talking with patients at the hospital and came to believe they were not insane, but that society pushed them out because they were unconventional. The novel, upon release in 1962, gained immediate critical and commercial success.
His interest in a wide selection of psychoactive drugs first began when he volunteered to take part in Project MKULTRA. This project, also located at the Menlo Park Veteran’s Hospital, studied the effects of psychoactive drugs. In particular, the study focused on LSD, magic mushrooms (psilocybin), mescaline, cocaine, DMT and AMT. During his time here Kesey wrote many detailed accounts of these experiences. Of course, these also helped frame the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
After his time as a medical guinea pig, Kesey moved to the private use of drugs. Kesey became notorious for hosting wild parties that came to be known as Acid Tests. Along with his followers, dubbed the ‘Merry Pranksters’, he integrated the consumption of LSD with live music to throw some epic parties. These parties further combined strobe lights, black lights, fluorescent paint, and songs from artists such as the Grateful Dead designed to heighten the sense and widen the mind.
In 1964 Kesey and the Merry Pranksters also embarked on an epic cross-country road trip in a school bus. Along the way, the group attempted to experience roadway America while high on LSD and create art out of everyday life. Of course though, with every great drug story, there comes a dark side. In 1965 police arrested Kesey for possession of marijuana. Kesey then faked his death in an attempt to get out of a drug charge. He had his friends leave his truck on a Cliffside road and left a long suicide note. Meanwhile, he fled to Mexico in the back of a friend’s car. When he returned to the United States eight months later, the courts sentenced Kesey to six months in the San Mateo County Jail. Upon his release, he moved back to Oregon and continued to write short stories, books, and articles.
In 1998, health problems, including a battle with diabetes and a stroke, began to weaken Kesey. In 2001 Kesey had surgery to remove a tumour on his liver. Unfortunately, he failed to recover from the operation and he died on the 10th November 2001.