Zappa On Freaking

[Steelhead]

Greg of 2000 trips asks:

>Are you asking if I could testify in a court of law that she was not an
>illegal drug user?
>Yes, I could -- I have no problem with lying under oath.

LSD probably wasn't illegal when LeGuin would have consumed it.  Marijuana
has been decriminalized in Oregon--possession of less than an ounce is the
equivalent of a parking ticket. Ballot initiative set for next year will
probably take it even farther than the recent ones in AZ and CA.
Re-synthesized LSD-like drugs are still legal in this state, though not for
long if that General McCaffery has any say. I believe LeGuin was one of
those Oregon writers--such as Barry Lopez, Kesey, Babbs, Sherman Alexis,
John Varley, and myself--who took publically announced taking peyote in
defiance of the Attorney General's attack on the Native American Church's
ceremonial use of hallucinogens that later ended up in a wretched Supreme
Court decision written by Antonin Scalia. But I could be wrong about that.

>But now that you mention it ... she was ALWAYS championing Phil Dick as one
>of "America's best
>writers" -- something going on there?
>
>(Say "hi" for me the next time you run into her at the Hawthore).

I'll pass that to my wife. She schedules LeGuin's readings and local book
gigs. I haven't been able to make my way through anything LeGuin has
written since the Dispossessed.

Steely