Ken Kesey

The author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Major influence in psychedelic drug use on the west coast such as Timothy Leary was on the east. He and his band of Merry Pranksters experimented with drugs such as LSD and cannabis beginning in the early sixties, predating much of the later era hype. In I believe 1964, they undertook a cross-country road trip in a psychedelic, day-glo, hand-painted old school bus. All along the way, they "turned on" many people to the mind-expanding effects of LSD. They lived communally at Kesey's cabin in La Honda, and hosted parties called Acid Tests where the house band, an early incarnation of the Grateful Dead, played. Here, they served "Electric Kool-Aid," which was Kool-Aid spiked with acid. in short, Ken Kesey is one of my idols.

Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters are described in detail in Tom Wolfe's novel, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test."

Ken Kesey by coryr185 December 9, 2008