Ken Kesey

Ken Kesey was the link between the Beats and the Hippies. He knew Kerouac, Neal Cassidy, Allen Ginsberg and the rest, but was also onto the new movements arising with the introduction of LSD, free love and his favourite band the Grateful Dead. Kesey got involved with the military's LSD experiments early on as a test subject and segments of the recordings from his experiences can be found in the documentary film Magic Bus which detailed his journey across America with the Merry Pranksters. Kesey is best known for his book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was later made into a film staring Jack Nicholson. He is possibly more well known than most people realize with reference made to him often, though usually not by name. Kesey for example, with the Merry Pranksters, drove a technicolored, hippie, school bus named Further from California to New York for a book signing while also stopping along the way to document their trip and drop acid -- the classic vision of the hippie bus…him. What really intrigues me about Kesey was his belief in a graduation from psychoactive drugs to something more, where people were able to use the drugs to expand their minds but sustain themselves in an extended state of consciousness without them. Kesey was a huge player in one of my favourite counter-cultural movements. I highly recommend reading Tom Wolfe's book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, to learn more about Kesey, the Beats, LSD and the forming of the Hippie movement.