Stephen Gaskin

Stephen Gaskin is a counterculture hippie icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s and for co-founding "The Farm", a famous spiritual intentional community in Summertown, Tennessee. Meunier, Rachel (1994). [http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/cmnl.html Communal Living in the Late 60s and Early 70s] . The Farm, Summertown, Tennessee.] He was a Green Party presidential primary candidate in 2000 on a platform which included campaign finance reform, universal health care, and decriminalization of marijuana. [http://www.greens.org/s-r/22/22-03.html Stephen Gaskin for President] Synthesis/Regeneration 22 (Spring 2000)] He is the author of over a dozen books, a teacher, a musician (drummer), a semantic rapper, a public speaker, a political activist, and a philanthropic organizer.

Life

Gaskin was born on February 16, 1935 in Denver, Colorado and served in the United States Marines from 1952 to 1955. In the 1960s, he moved to San Francisco and taught English, creative writing, and general semantics at San Francisco State College, where he was a student of S. I. Hayakawa.Bates, Albert (1993) [http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/albertbates/akbp3.html J. Edgar Hoover and The Farm] International Communal Studies Conference on Culture, Thought and Living in Community. New Harmony, Indiana,] His writing class became an open discussion known as Monday Night Class, which involved up to 1500 students. In 1970, Gaskin was part of a caravan of 60 vehicles that crossed the United States to settle 60 miles south-west of Nashville, Tennessee. He went to prison in 1974 for marijuana possession. He served one year of a three-year sentence.

In "Volume One: Sunday Morning Services on the Farm" and earlier talks, Stephen Gaskin produced a substantial body of spiritual teaching. His ideas are now contained in books and tapes of the Services which were published by the Farm. They speak of magic, energy and life in community as well as of service to humanity. [ [http://www.stephengaskin.com/stephen.html Stephen Gaskin] . Website]

Gaskin was recipient of the first Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1980 and an inductee into the Counterculture Hall of Fame in 2004. He was awarded the Golden Bolt Award by The Farm Motor Pool (for helping buy a lemon semi), and won the [http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=1832 Guru-Off] (without even entering), racking up 77 points to Krishnamurti’s 73.

Gaskin works as an international activist and speaker, and he continues to write. His topics range from advice on all aspects of communal life and farming to CB radio, the counter-culture, spirituality, drug law reform, and social and spiritual issues. He was a drummer in The Farm Band, an early Jam Band which toured in the seventies and eighties. His most recent books are revised and annotated versions of "Monday Night Class" and "The Caravan."

Bibliography

* 1964 - "Forty Miles of Bad Road"
* 1970 - "Monday Night Class" (Book Farm/Bookworks)
* 1972 - "The Caravan" (Random House)
* 1974 - "Hey Beatnik!: This is the Farm Book" (The Book Publishing Co.)
* 1976 - "The Big Dummy's Guide to CB Radio" (The Book Publishing Company) ISBN 0-913990-04-3 ASIN B000BO893A
* 1977 - "Volume One: Sunday Morning Services on The Farm"
* 1978 - "This Season's People: A Book of Spiritual Teachings" (Book Publishing Company) ISBN 0-913990-05-1
* 1979 - "Mind at Play" (The Book Publishing Co.) ISBN 0-913990-24-8
* 1986 - "Rendered Infamous: A Book of Political Reality" (Greenwood Pub Group) (Hardcover) ISBN 0-89789-099-X
* 1990 - "Haight Ashbury Flashbacks" (Ronin Publishing; 2nd edition) ISBN 0-914171-30-5
* 1998 - "Cannabis Spirituality: Including 13 Guidelines for Sanity and Safety" ( [High Times] Press; 1st ed edition) ISBN 0-9647858-6-2
* 1999 - "Amazing Dope Tales" (Ronin Publishing (CA); 3rd edition) ISBN 1-57951-010-8
* 2000 - "An Outlaw in My Heart: A Political Activist's User's Manual" (Camino Books) ISBN 0-940159-64-3
* 2005 - "Monday Night Class" (Book Publishing Company (TN); Revised edition) ISBN 1-57067-181-8
* "The Hidden Holocaust: Stephen Gaskin Reveals What's Really Going On in Guatemala"
* "Stephen Speaks to San Francisco"

ee also

* Plenty International
* Ina May Gaskin
* Counterculture
* Alternative lifestyle

Notes

References

* Farber, Philip H., [http://www.bestweb.net/~kali93/oct98/gaskin.htm Interview of Stephen Gaskin] in "Paradigm Shift", October 1998.

External links

* [http://www.stephengaskin.com/ Stephen Gaskin's website]
* [http://www.thefarm.org/ The Farm Organization website]
* [http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/ The Farm Community website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdOdLEVU54o High Times, Stephen Gaskin on "You Tube" Part1]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT3U-IYob8E High Times, Stephen Gaskin on "You Tube" Part2]