Ken Kesey died today. He was 66.
Furthur on moves Ken!!!! Hero deluxe!!!! Happy to have met him!!!!
John Brockman has a fittingly strange Kesey eulogy.
One thing that needs to be said about Kesey, especially at this point in history, is that he was a genuine patriot. He had a deep belief in the possibility of America, which helped him go beyond the alienation of the Beats. He practiced a sort of self-creation which was not just reactionary, but visionary. He flew the flag, and I think he was the first to adopt the Captain America persona, which eventually found its way into Easy Rider. This usage was beyond ironic; his interest in comic books and superheros parallels the Pop artists’, but lacks the intellectual distance of the high-culture art scene. He thought these American myths were available. He actually believed that our hero, with recourse to the secret power, could be transformed into something wonderful and strange, and maybe save the world from evil in the process. That didn’t always happen, but he maintained a very American faith in self-determination. He thought people could work things out among themselves, and he worked at community-building when some had turned to hawking product, but he was also an articulate critic of the Movement, when necessary. In hindsight, his populist proselytizing had its downside, but I honor him for it. He was a big part of whatever it was that made the sixties whatever they were, and I think he was one of the good guys. He will be remembered as depicted in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and it’s testament to Kesey’s import that for all Wolfe’s literary pretension, the account of the Pranksters and their bus trip remains his most significant work, continuing to inspire generations of young seekers.
I am one.
In memory of the Chief
Flower Power
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- jim 11-10-2001 11:16 pm
Furthur on moves Ken!!!! Hero deluxe!!!! Happy to have met him!!!!
- Skinny 11-11-2001 4:52 pm [add a comment]
John Brockman has a fittingly strange Kesey eulogy.
- jim 11-11-2001 5:16 pm [add a comment]
One thing that needs to be said about Kesey, especially at this point in history, is that he was a genuine patriot. He had a deep belief in the possibility of America, which helped him go beyond the alienation of the Beats. He practiced a sort of self-creation which was not just reactionary, but visionary. He flew the flag, and I think he was the first to adopt the Captain America persona, which eventually found its way into Easy Rider. This usage was beyond ironic; his interest in comic books and superheros parallels the Pop artists’, but lacks the intellectual distance of the high-culture art scene. He thought these American myths were available. He actually believed that our hero, with recourse to the secret power, could be transformed into something wonderful and strange, and maybe save the world from evil in the process. That didn’t always happen, but he maintained a very American faith in self-determination. He thought people could work things out among themselves, and he worked at community-building when some had turned to hawking product, but he was also an articulate critic of the Movement, when necessary. In hindsight, his populist proselytizing had its downside, but I honor him for it. He was a big part of whatever it was that made the sixties whatever they were, and I think he was one of the good guys. He will be remembered as depicted in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and it’s testament to Kesey’s import that for all Wolfe’s literary pretension, the account of the Pranksters and their bus trip remains his most significant work, continuing to inspire generations of young seekers.
I am one.
- alex 11-12-2001 6:52 pm [add a comment]
Be on the lookout for Little Tricker The Squirrel & Big Double The Bear, his amazing children's book.
- frank 12-27-2001 6:04 am [add a comment]
In memory of the Chief
Flower Power
- alex 11-15-2001 2:33 pm [add a comment]
thanks doc!!!
- Skinny 11-16-2001 5:07 am [add a comment]