Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 1, February 1997 | Page 25

ideas. That is not saying it very well. It’s difficult to detail—they were
so mul[t]i-various and fluid. Still, the chief impression is one who is
escaping interaction rather than achieving it while at the same time
[he] wanted very much to believe that he was seeking interaction. It
was as if there was a very important part of the machinery for
interacting with other males that was missing upstairs.... I had the
feeling of a guy who is really kind of remote—that I couldn’t get to.
T h e un d erlining is Ti m o t h y ’s. H e pl a c e d a qu e stio n m a rk n e x t to
“Prin c e of L o v e ...t h e ob j e ct.” A line e x t e nd s fro m “It w a s a s if th e re
w a s a v e ry im port a nt p art of th e m a c h in e ry f or int era cting with o th e r
m a l e s th a t w a s m is sing upst a irs” to th e m a rgin at th e top of th e p a g e ,
w h e r e T i m wro t e “SORRY ABOUT THAT MERV. WHERE ARE YOU
NOW, THAT I LEFT YOU?” T o th e left of “re a lly kind of r e m o t e ,” h e
wro t e “ YEA!" A n a rro w points up to th e last cl a u s e . T o th e right of it,
h e wro t e “WHO ARE YOU?"
TIM O TH Y w a s a lw a y s TIM O TH Y . No t s o ironic ally, th e guru of radical
id e ologi e s w a s a lso a solipsistic m id d l e-c l a s s “cric k e t in a s u m m e r
g a rd e n scr a pin g out o n e u n c h a n gin g n o t e .” H e d e s crib e d hims e lf that
w a y in th e Pre f a c e to AN
Timo t h y Le a r y mid d l e -c l a s s ?
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF
H e a lw a y s e x p r e s s e d utt er lo a thi ng f or
TIMOTHY LEARY: " R e a d in g this
m id d l e-c l a s s m e nt a lity, but in s o m e
bo o k h a s t a ugh t m e a lot a bou t
w a y s h e w a s ‘m id d l e -c l a s s.’
mys e lf. R e vi e w in g this list of
M o n o g a m o u s . I o n c e a s k e d h im if h e
publis h e d tr a n sm is si o n s
w a s e v e r p a rt of a manage a tols. H e
b lu s h e d a n d l o w e r e d his h e a d , w h ic h
s p a n n in g a p e rio d of s o m e f orty
s lo w ly s h o o k .‘n o .’
y e a rs I s e e a cl e a r p a tt ern of
th e m a tic rep etition tha t is a lm ost F o o d s: m e a t a n d (f ri e d) p ot a t o e s,
b a c o n a n d c h e e s e s a n d w ic h e s, fish
robotic. I a m h u m bl e d to s e e
stick, c o l e s l a w wit h lots of m a y o .
tha t I h a v e b e e n a ch e e rful
A m e ric a n a : b a s e b a ll a n d tra ins.
cric k e t in a s u m m e r g a rd e n
H e o n c e told m e h e w a n t e d to b e s e e n
scr a ping out o n e u n c h a n gin g
a n d tre a t e d jus t lik e e v e ry o t h e r
no t e.” It s o u n d e d lik e th e M o o d y
f a th er, gr a n d f a t h e r, s e n io r c it iz e n. B u t
B l u e s ...
w h e n c o n fro n t e d wit h e v e ry d a y

Tim o t h y w a s all w a y s
Dr. L e a ry's bigg e st f a n.

p ro b l e m s f a th ers, gr a n d f a t h e rs a n d
s e n io r cit iz e ns a r e co n fro n t e d with
e v e ry d a y, h e b e c a m e ...
D r . T im o t

hy

Le a r

y , c e l e b r it y .

R ic h a rd L e ib y’s articl e in th e M a rc h 1 0 , 1 9 9 6 Washington Post w a s
entitled TIMOTHY LEARY IS DEAD. VIRTUALLY. On-Line, in Pain, the
Apostle of Acid Prepares to Truly Drop Out. T h e p i e c e w a s pre f a c e d
with a l arg e ph o to of Ti m o t h y . His smiling s n e e r c o n firm e d th e picture ’s