Paul Foster (cartoonist)
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| - | :''[[prank]]'' | + | '''Paul M. Foster''' (November 7, 1934 – June 23, 2003) was a [[Merry Pranksters|Merry Prankster]] best known for illustrating the book [[Kesey's Garage Sale|''Ken Kesey's Garage Sale'']]. |
| - | The '''Merry Pranksters''' are a group of people who originally formed around [[American novelist]] [[Ken Kesey]] of importance to the history of [[North American counterculture]]. | + | |
| - | == Members == | + | He is the [[author]] of ''[[The Answer Is Always Yes]]'' and he was also a founding member of [[Wavy Gravy]]'s [[Hog Farm]] commune. |
| - | Its members and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon. Notable members include Kesey's best friend [[Ken Babbs]] and [[Mountain Girl]] (born Carolyn Adams but best known as Mrs. Jerry Garcia), [[Wavy Gravy]], [[Paul Krassner]], [[Stewart Brand]], [[Del Close]], [[Paul Foster (cartoonist)|Paul Foster]] and others. Their early escapades were best chronicled by [[Tom Wolfe]] in ''[[The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test]]''. Ken Kesey once described Wolfe's book as, "99.9% accurate" although he also complained that the celebrity status the book conveyed upon him was in some ways a burden. | + | |
| - | == Influence on North American counterculture == | + | Foster was a mathematical genius and became a computer programmer "in the days of wooden transistors" as he would say. He was programming in binary code since 1954, when computers were as big as a room. In 1964 he sponsored a music club in San Jose, The Offstage. He hired the future members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jerry Garcia, Odetta, Jessie Fuller. He also liked to draw and created handbills for the music events, some of the very first artworks that would become the music poster scene of the 60's. |
| - | [[Ken Kesey]] and his [[Merry Pranksters]] helped shape the developing character of the 1960s counterculture when they embarked on a cross-country voyage during the summer of [[1964]] in a psychedelic school bus named "Furthur." Beginning in 1959, Kesey had volunteered as a research subject for medical trials financed by the CIA's ''[[Project MKULTRA|MK ULTRA]]'' project. These trials tested the effects of [[LSD]], [[psilocybin]], [[mescaline]], and other psychedelic drugs. After the medical trials, Kesey continued experimenting on his own, and involved many close friends; collectively they became known as "The Merry Pranksters." The Pranksters visited Harvard LSD proponent [[Timothy Leary]] at his [[Millbrook, New York|Millbrook]], New York retreat, and experimentation with [[LSD]] and other [[psychedelic]] drugs, primarily as a means for internal reflection and personal growth, became a constant during the Prankster trip. The Pranksters created a direct link between the 1950s [[Beat Generation]] and the 1960s psychedelic scene; the bus was driven by Beat icon [[Neal Cassady]], Beat poet [[Allen Ginsberg]] was onboard for a time, and they dropped in on Cassady's friend, Beat author [[Jack Kerouac]]--though Kerouac declined participation in the Prankster scene. After the Pranksters returned to California, they popularized the use of LSD at so-called "Acid Tests," which initially were held at Kesey's home in [[La Honda, California]], and then at many other West Coast venues. Experimentation with LSD and other psychedelic drugs became a major component of 1960s counterculture, influencing philosophy, [[Psychedelic art|art]], music and styles of dress. | + | Through the musicians, Paul met Neal Cassidy and then Ken Kesey. He gave up computing to join Kesey and the Pranksters, living in a tree house in La Honda. He was the artist who drew the Acid Test Posters, as well as the Acid Test diploma. The Acid Test Poster has been attributed Norman Hartweg, but this itself is a prank. |
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| + | When the Acid Tests ended, Foster went to India overland with several companions. When he returned, he looked up Hugh Romney, aka [[Wavy Gravy]], and was invited to take care of a pig farm outside Sunland Tujunga in Los Angeles. This was the beginning of the Hog Farm commune. In 1968 the Hog Farm painted their own bus, the Road Hog, and took a caravan with a light show, geodesic dome, and a band on a trip across America promoting happenings, involving communities in northern New Mexico, Ann Arbor, and landing in a loft in New York. In the summer of 1969 the Hog Farm was asked to help with security and a free kitchen for Woodstock. Paul Foster made signs before the event and helped in the freak out tent. | ||
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| + | Later the Hog Farm again made a cross country caravan followed by a year long trip to India and Katmandu. There Wavy met Larry Brilliant and founded Seva. Paul Foster returned to Eugene, Oregon where he worked with Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs to produce the book ''Garage Sale''. | ||
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| + | Paul Foster eventually returned to programming and to Cupertino in the heart of Silicon Valley. He worked for NASA as well as Apple Computers before retiring to live near his daughter in Northern California. He published the book, ''The Answer is Always Yes'' and always kept a journal of drawings and clever sayings. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 2003 after filling in the last page of his journal, suggesting that we forget the Alamo and seek love. | ||
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Paul M. Foster (November 7, 1934 – June 23, 2003) was a Merry Prankster best known for illustrating the book Ken Kesey's Garage Sale.
He is the author of The Answer Is Always Yes and he was also a founding member of Wavy Gravy's Hog Farm commune.
Foster was a mathematical genius and became a computer programmer "in the days of wooden transistors" as he would say. He was programming in binary code since 1954, when computers were as big as a room. In 1964 he sponsored a music club in San Jose, The Offstage. He hired the future members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jerry Garcia, Odetta, Jessie Fuller. He also liked to draw and created handbills for the music events, some of the very first artworks that would become the music poster scene of the 60's.
Through the musicians, Paul met Neal Cassidy and then Ken Kesey. He gave up computing to join Kesey and the Pranksters, living in a tree house in La Honda. He was the artist who drew the Acid Test Posters, as well as the Acid Test diploma. The Acid Test Poster has been attributed Norman Hartweg, but this itself is a prank.
When the Acid Tests ended, Foster went to India overland with several companions. When he returned, he looked up Hugh Romney, aka Wavy Gravy, and was invited to take care of a pig farm outside Sunland Tujunga in Los Angeles. This was the beginning of the Hog Farm commune. In 1968 the Hog Farm painted their own bus, the Road Hog, and took a caravan with a light show, geodesic dome, and a band on a trip across America promoting happenings, involving communities in northern New Mexico, Ann Arbor, and landing in a loft in New York. In the summer of 1969 the Hog Farm was asked to help with security and a free kitchen for Woodstock. Paul Foster made signs before the event and helped in the freak out tent.
Later the Hog Farm again made a cross country caravan followed by a year long trip to India and Katmandu. There Wavy met Larry Brilliant and founded Seva. Paul Foster returned to Eugene, Oregon where he worked with Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs to produce the book Garage Sale.
Paul Foster eventually returned to programming and to Cupertino in the heart of Silicon Valley. He worked for NASA as well as Apple Computers before retiring to live near his daughter in Northern California. He published the book, The Answer is Always Yes and always kept a journal of drawings and clever sayings. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 2003 after filling in the last page of his journal, suggesting that we forget the Alamo and seek love.
