NP Ken Kesey

[Tim Strzechowski]

I'd heard from a close friend this morning that Kesey was in the hospital,
and that it didn't look good.  I was waiting to hear more info on it.

_Cuckoo's Nest_ has been a staple of my classes for some time, and last year
I was fortunate enough to have a superior group of AP seniors who thoroughly
enjoyed this novel.  On a whim, I took a notion to contact Kesey at
IntrepidTrips.com and request he give an interview to my students.  He did.

On a cold morning this past March, my students and a few faculty members and
I crowded around the speaker phone in our principal's office and called
Kesey at his home.  He was warm, embracing, and talkative.  While still
condemning the "Establishment," he praised technology for the ways it can be
used to heighten our awareness and creative potential.  In mid interview, he
stopped and described a mallard that had just drifted down into the pond
outside his kitchen window.  Even in illness, Kesey was lively,
conversational, and still enjoying the sensory pleasures of Life.

He will be sorely missed!

Before we ended the conversation, he revealed that he was working on an
autobiography.  Hopefully we will one day see it.

Thanks, Otto, for bringing us the breaking news.

Tim S.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Otto" <o.sell at telda.net>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2001 12:00 PM
Subject: NP Ken Kesey


> RIP Ken Kesey
>
> "The celebrated king of counter-culture, who was 66, died in an Oregon
> hospital following an operation for liver cancer."
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1649000/1649226.stm
>
>
>
>