Timothy Leary

1920 (Springfield, Mass.) – 1996 (Los Angeles)

Huxley and Leary knew one another from the period when Leary was conducting conventional research into the effects of LSD. McLuhan’s prompt led to his best-known utterance. Laing gave him his first shot of heroin in Trocchi’s house, while Leary himself introduced Ginsberg, one of his oldest friends, to psilocybin. Di Prima lived on Leary’s New York commune, Snyder (and Ginsberg) discussed spiritual change with him on a Sausalito houseboat, Lennon wrote a song to support his California governorship campaign, while Byrne and Gibson were among his acquaintances after his release from prison.