October 10, 1973 (Letter from Tony)

Yes, here I am at last, the wayward Western wanderer finally writing.  Thank you for your letter for I usually do need a small push to help over come my inertia.

It certainly is a shame that education at college-level and higher cannot be somewhat more stimulating than it is.  I can rationalize some of the drudgery as a means to the end of developing discipline and bringing my expectations of my life down to manageable goals, but it does seem that they go a bit overboard in laying on the tedium.  Certainly my last year here at Boalt was not an enjoyable one, but it was also far from unproductive.

Since I had a lot of time  this past summer to re-think on what had gone on, I was able to prepare myself much better for this year and also for what lies ahead in my life.

You ask if I noticed a moodiness on your part.  I had to laugh, for I felt that many hours of this past summer, which were part of my re-evaluation, found me to be almost anti-social, or at least far from talkative or friendly.  During our trip to Spread Eagle this mood of mine was quite strong.  I realized that my quietness had a somewhat deleterious effect on the social situation I was in, but I was in no "mood" to adjust my behavior.

Well, anyway, my 1st year of law school is now history, and with the wisdom gleaned from that year I have vowed never to allow myself to drop into such a depressed mental state again.  Those attributes you are working to maintain, a sense of humor being the chief one, were lost by me for lengthy periods of time and were not firmly established again until the end of the semester.

So far this school year has been very enjoyable.  I've been doing things, such as backpacking in Yosemite, visiting the ocean, walking around a redwood grave, spending a day out in the country, etc.  And I've been reading non-law books, such as Jung and my art books, several of which I bought out here at a used book store.

I'm living with 2 non-law students and that is working out quite well.  Neither of them is going to school, they both work.

My courses are 75% good.  I have one dud course, but Bob Padia and I alternate attending class and I only have to face that once a week.  My 3 other classes are really fine, the material is interesting and the teachers are all eminently knowledgeable and quite effective as teachers.  It was one of these courses, Psychoanalytical Jurisprudence, that was the motivating factor that got me started in Jung. (see earlier comment on inertia)  I have a fairly light credit load and I'm staying away from such traditional law courses as Tax and Estates and Trusts.  My interests certainly do not lie in those areas and what little help they would be to me is outweighed by the dullness of the material and the effort required to maintain in the classes.

I just got back from a performance of the Cleveland Quartet, a group that succeeded the Budapest Quartet as artists in residence at SUNY at Buffalo in 1971.  Have you ever heard of them?  I didn't until just recently.  The performance was excellent, they did some traditional pieces by Haydn and Beethoven and also some more unusual compositions by Ives and Slonimsky.

Cal has an excellent selection of musical events on campus which I took advantage of last year and will do so again this year.

I got food stamps this week that along with a $600 grant, a $1,500 loan and my California residency should allow me to manage the experience this year.  However, I appear almost certain that I must find a job for next summer.

I'll close now; write. soon.

October 19, 1971 (Letter from Larry)

I just read your letter and I wanted to write to you while my thoughts were fresh in my head.

Pink Floyd is coming to Cleveland on Nov 6th and I'm hoping I get to see them.

School is going okay but it's a rinky-dink ass school.  I'm trying to do my best but the teaching and administration is fucked up.  It isn't really worth the money but I'm going to make the most of it.  I'd like to go to Ken State after I get out of this school but it depends on the money situation.  It's supposed to be one of the best architectural schools in the nation and besides that there are a lot of freaks down in Kent.

Did you hear that Ford and June bought Bambenek's cottage at Lake Spread Eagle.  Mom and Dad were hoping they would rent nit out so they could go up to the lake for 2 weeks t his summer.  I"d really like to go with them.

About my bad trip -- it really fucked me up.  I don't know what Mom or Dad told you but I'll you the whole story.  I've only touched the chemicals twice -- both times acid.  The first time was out here in Cleveland.  I was over at these guys apartment and just about everybody dropped.  I dropped 1/4 tab and went home by myself.  It wasn't too bad of oa trip.  I just got a lot of cramps and I felt weaker than hell.  I didn't plan on droping again for quite awhile but about three weeks later I dropped with Monty and some other guys.  It was about 2:00 Sunday morning when I did it.  I didn't want to do anything cause I knew that I would have to go to church in a few hours.  Anyhow they persuaded me to, they told me when I first took it that it was mesc, but after about a half hour they told me it was really acid.  I didn't really care then, I wasn't pissed at them for doing it.  But I started peaking about an hour later, I thought I was going to die, I had such bad cramps I could hardly breathe.  I told one of the guys I was with to check me (I was lying in the back seat of a car) every once in awhile to make sure I was still alive.  It really fucked me up.  Things began to be a little beteter when I started coming down but I had terrible cramps.

I went home about 10:30 Sunday morning and nobody was home so I went to bed.  I was still really fucked up, I would hear bells, hammering sounds, motorcycles, just about anything in my head and there was nothing around making the noises.  I thought I was going to be fucked up the rest of my life.  I even told Mom and Dad that they should take me to the State Hospital for observation.  But they wanted to wait a day to see how I'd be.  I didn't start getting back to normal til about 5:00 Sunday nite.  I still wasn't sure if I was going to be normal or not.

It took me about 3 or 4 weeks to get my head clear.  Like about a week or so after this experience I had a couple beers and I laid down and I hear swoshing and cricket like sounds in my head.  Even when I smoked some hash I'd hear cricket sounds but it's been about 7 weeks since that and it doesn't affect my head cuz I don't drink or smoke anymore.

What could have caused such a bad trip is that the acid was probably cut with strychnine (a rat poison) cause it is supposed to cause the bad cramps.

I'll never do chemicals again -- I'd be afraid that it could kill me.  I'll never stop smoking (no reason to).

I listneed to a program on one of the underground radio stations about drugs.  It was a talk session with Cleveland's chief underground toxicologist.  (He inspects the dope in Cleveland that people bring to him.)  I just want to give you some true facts about dope all over the United States.

You've probably never had mescaline before because it done't exist on the street.  If you really have had it, it would have cost about $25 a hit, that's about how much it costs to synthesize it and it is rare in its pure form.  THC doesn't exist outside a laboratory and that would cost $75 per dose cause it is a complicated synthesis.

You won't always get pure acid, a lot of time it's poor quality acid cut with speed or strychnine nto give it strength.

There's no reason why you should get involved with downs or speed -- they can't do anything for you.

Eve the grass is dangerous if it's sprayed or soaked in a chemical.  It's even more dangerous when you smoke a chemical.

The toxicologists does public service announcements on the station so most everything I said is quoted from him.  But I read articles form different people who say the same, so it's not bullshit.

I don't have anything against your taking acid but there's no way in hell that you are sure that it's acid.

It is possible to retrip on LCD under extreme tension.

I would take mesc if I was sure it was pure and could afford it.  But I'd be afraid to take pure acid, I'll never buy any chemical off the street.  The only thing I buy is grass or hash and even then I can't be sure if it hasn't been stepped on.

That's enough of that -- I just wanted to tell you how I felt and a few facts that you might not have known.

I hope everything that I've been writing makes sense.  I wrote down things so fast and I don't plan on proofreading 5 pages.

Mom might have told you I got my hair cut -- I just got about an inch or so of the back so it would grow in more even.

I hope you didn't think I turned straight from what Mom and Dad said.  I could never do that.  I don't' have to take the chemicals to be a freak.

i'm still working at school as a janitor but I'm going to have to have someone start helping me out cause I've been working over 40 hrs/week plus going to school 25 hrs/week that doesn't leave me much time to do anything.  Well my hand is getting tired so i"ll probably see you Christmas.

I hate to bug you about this but know what you're putting down.

This is the longest fuckin letter I've ever written.

April 21, 1970 (Letter from Anne)

Sorry I haven't written but you would never believe what's been happening around here for the past 2 months.

First of all, me and some friends of mine split to Spread Eagle and stayed there for awhile.  Then we sensed things getting a little tense so we split back to Chicago.  When we got back one of the chick's parents had the cops out after us so we had to split up from the guys.  We all finally went back.  The reason I left was cuz of hassles with the old girl and a few other people.  Things got even worse when I came back so I split again.  This time I took clothes and shit never to return.  One day I ran into Fritz and he told me the old lady had two warrants for my arrest out on me.  So I figured this was as good as time as any so I scraped up some quick cash and flew down to San Francisco.  I called this chick I knew down there so she came to get me.  Her old lady started giving me a really big hassle after the first day so I split with her older brother and we took off up the coast.  We stayed about a week at one of the state beaches, which was really nice.  Then I met this cat who took me in and everything was cool until I got caught swipin a pack of damn cigarettes.  They found out I was from Chicago and also found out that the state had 2 warrants out on me.  So I spent a week in jail there then they shipped me back to Chicago where I spent another week in jail and I am out now on one year's probation and the worst part is a seven o'clock curfew.  What a drag!  Let me tell ya!  It's really a bummer when you know your friends are out living it up on a Friday and Saturday nite and you're sitting home watching dumb TV.  I have to go back to court May 13 an dust maybe they'll lift my 7:00 curfew.  I sure hope so I can't take much more.

I guess everybody knew I went to California cuz kids I don't even know come up to me and ask me how it was and shit.  But I just tell them it was really beautiful out there.  The mountains are fantastic.  One of the guys I met took me for a ride thru the mountains.  It was supposed to be a short ride and turned out to be most of the day.  I thought it was really far out when you were up there at nite and you could see all the lites down in the valley.  It was just beautiful.  I'm gonna go back there when this business is over.  The thought of ruining a beautiful life for a lousy pack of cigarettes.  I had a job and everything.  Just didn't have any money on me at the time.  But what can I say!

Otherwise, everything's fine around here.  The people around her can't stand me and think my mother doesn't realize how wild I am.  That's a bunch of shit.  Man!  This town is the biggest Peyton Place.  Even the lady pigs in California are a hell of a lot better than the ones out there.  When I was in jail in Chicago one of the matrons wold me to scrub out the bathtub.  I told her I couldn't cuz there wasn't any cleanser.  She says (she was colored) "That's tust ruff titty baby, there's nothing I can do about it".   So I said how could I ash it.  So the dumb bitch says I was talkin back and threw me in isolation for 4 days.  At first I was going crazy.  Then I finally got used to it and just slept all day.  I couldn't wait to get out of there.  Shit!  What a rat trap!  I sure as hell hope I never have to go thru that again.  Some quack or one of my old lady's attorneys (she's got about 50) called the assistant states attorney and told him to make sure I was thrown in the can for at least 3 months.    I talked to him after that and talked him out of it.  What a bunch of jerks man!  Somebody waves a $100 bill in their face and they'll do what ever you ask.  Shows how much justice is done in this damn nation.  But there's really not much a person could do about it.

I'm back in school.  I go to a Catholic high and go from 8:00 to 11:00 then take a run over to Harper Jr. College and take Public Speaking and Speech.  The college is about 2 miles from where I live.  I don't know why I'm taking these damn courses at Harper.  Crap!  I go to classes twice a week -- to get the assigned speech and to give it.  The rest of the days I don't even bother to show.  They are supposed to keep me out of trouble.  Ha!

Well, gotta go.  Take care and write soon.