The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD

379 Pages·2018·8.32 MB·English

by  Bill Minutaglio

Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis Cover design by Roberto
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Minutaglio, Bill,
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Minutaglio, Bill,
author. | Davis, Steven L., author.
Title: The most dangerous man in America : Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon &
the hunt for the fugitive king of LSD / Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis.
Other titles: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the hunt for the fugitive king of
LSD
Description: New York : Twelve, [2018]
Identifiers: LCCN 2017032575| ISBN 9781455563586 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781478923664 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 9781455563609 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH:
Leary, Timothy, 1920–1996—Travel—Foreign countries. | Fugitives from
justice—United States—Biography. | Escapes—California—San Luis Obispo
County. | Psychologists— United States—Biography. | Radicalism—United
States—History— 20th century. | Counterculture—History—20th century. | LSD
(Drug)—History—20th century. | United States—Politics and government—
1969–1974.
Classification: LCC HV8658.L43 M56 2018 | DDC 150.92 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017032575
ISBNs: 978-1-45556358-6 (hardcover), 978-1-45556360-9 (ebook) E3-
20171102-JV-PC
Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
EPIGRAPH
AUTHORS’ NOTE
PRELUDE: Some Bad Guy
PART I: YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION
WE THROW AWAY THE KEY
THE GREAT FEAR
PURPLE LIZARDS
ARES, GOD OF WAR
MADMAN
WARGASM
YOU GOTTA PITCH
LOVE REVOLUTIONARIES
ARE YOU SLEEPING WITH HIM?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT OFFING PIGS?
JUJU EYEBALLS
THEY CAN CARRY GUNS
ACID IS GROOVY
I’M NINO
DYNAMITE AND HAIR DYE
BE FREE, PRISON GUARDS
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL UNDERGROUND
YOU’RE TOO HOT
ARMED AND DANGEROUS
PLAYING HOUSE
DOPE AND DYNAMITE
A GOOD TEST FOR YOUR DISGUISE
PART II: THE SHELTERING SKY
THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER
GINSENG WINE
I’LL BEAT HIM TO DEATH WITH A MARSHMALLOW
INTERRACIAL HARMONY
DEAD PIGS AND DIRTY DISHES
GENIAL GENIUS
UNLEASHED ANGELS
DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS
WE BURY PEOPLE
GET THIS MOTHERFUCKER OUT OF THE COUNTRY
PAY THESE MOTHERS OFF
MOTHERFUCKERS EVERYWHERE
THAT’S WHAT THEY HATE TO SEE
ESCALATE THE VIOLENCE
THE FIRST LESSON A REVOLUTIONARY LEARNS
HE DROPPED FROM THE SKIES
A PLANET OF PURITY
YOU’RE REALLY BUSTED THIS TIME
TWO THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME
HIS MIND HAS BEEN BLOWN BY ACID
SUPREME SERVANTS
VOODOO TAPES
IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SHIT
A VANISHING PINPRICK
REVOLUTION WITHOUT REVELATION
PART III: HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN
I’LL SHOW YOU EUROPE
GOLDFINGER
I’LL PAY ALL THE BILLS
KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS
SQUARE IN THE PUSS
WAR ON DRUGS
BRING US DR. LEARY
SOME KARMIC MISTAKE
THE POPE OF DOPE
PHANTASMAGORIA
AT LEAST HE’S OUR HITLER
THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY
A VICTORY FOR LOVE
I OWN TIMOTHY LEARY
THE WORLD CHANGED FOREVER
ALWAYS ERR IN EXCESS
HE JUST ISN’T WELL SCREWED ON
HE HAS DESTROYED MORE LIVES
THE GODDESS LAKSHMI
GARDEN PARTY
HE HAS TAKEN LEAVE OF HIS SENSES
PART IV: HAPPYLAND
PEACE WITH HONOR
PURPLE HAZE
SUPER BOWL
AGENT BURKE
THE KING’S NEPHEW
LEARY HIGH AGAIN
A QUIET HIJACKING
MAKE THEM STOP
A FREE MAN
EPILOGUE
POST-CREDITS
PHOTOS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
ALSO BY BILL MINUTAGLIO AND STEVEN L. DAVIS
A NOTE ON SOURCES BIBLIOGRAPHY ENDNOTES
MISSION STATEMENT
NEWSLETTERS
For Michael Horowitz and Robert Barker, for saving the
archives.
For Rosemary, Joanna, and everyone who shared their
stories.
Richard Nixon famously called Timothy Leary “the most dangerous man
in America.”
—NEW YORK TIMES
When Nixon called me that, I was thrilled. The president of the United
States, whom many Americans and the rest of the world thought was a
crazed, psychotic danger, for him to be calling me that… that’s my Nobel
Prize, that’s my bumper sticker, that’s my trophy on the wall.
—TIMOTHY LEARY
If Richard Nixon is not sincere, he is the most dangerous man in America.
—DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.