Timothy Leary and Me

I just found a letter tucked into one of the books Timothy signed and gave me almost 25 years ago. It really got me thinking about those days in Hollywood and my neighbor Timothy Leary.

It was the in the early 1980' when we started a business in Hollywood, California and moved into a rental house high up in Laural Canyon. The house was one of those inexpensive bungalows constructed cheaply for low income people during the 1930s'and was set into the side of the Hollywood Hills.

On my left was a road that led up to a similar cottage that was lived in by the then Governor of California Jerry Brown, who was dating Linda Ronstadt at that time and always had a car parked at the foot of the driveway with two plainclosed State troopers.

On my right was another small bungalow set back a ways from mine, but close enough to see and hear whatever was going on inside, was Timothy Leary and his new wife Barbara and her 10 year old son.

I really did not know much about the Professor other than he was in the newspapers pretty often in the 60s'and famous for his "get high and drop out" declaration to young people. We were pretty busy getting the new business started and wasn't in the house much other than to sleep. It was small but had two bedrooms and a large living room kitchen area. My business partner, Bill Lawler, was a big burly guy and looked a little menacing with his dark glasses and leather jacket. He did not want to meet or know the Professor and was pretty apolitical so Jerry Brown was not of any interest to him. I did get pretty friendly with Timmy (as his wife called him) and Barbara.

I found out later that Timmy had just been released from doing hard time in the California prison system by Governor Brown. At first, he and his wife were convinced that we were FBI or CIA placed next door to watch them; and, after two years of listening to his life story, Now, I can truly understand why they would think that was true. But, more about that in another Blog.