How odd is it that a former participant in LSD research who was an associate of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters could be responsible for Earth Day, one of our most venerated international holidays? Thus is the odd life of Stewart Brand, a biologist, writer, philosopher, former army officer, and traveler who has spent time living among Native Americans, campaigned to have NASA release a photo of the entire earth from space, produced music festivals for the Grateful Dead, served as "special adviser" to the Governor of California in the 1970s, and founded one of the first online communities-- The WELL-- in 1985 which stuck around long enough to win Best Online Publication from the Computer Press Association in 1990. Now, Brand lives in relative obscurity on a giant tugboat off the coast of California and continues to influence everyone from politicians to scientists to the newly energized organic food movement. While many of his acid-head compatriots burned out and fell by the wayside during the 1980s, Brand moved forward into a new era-- the hallmark of a personality with staying power, rather than a fad destined to die out like Paris Hilton or that girl from Jersey Shore whose name I've already forgotten.
How odd is it that a former participant in LSD research who was an associate of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters could be responsible for Earth Day, one of our most venerated international holidays? Thus is the odd life of Stewart Brand, a biologist, writer, philosopher, former army officer, and traveler who has spent time living among Native Americans, campaigned to have NASA release a photo of the entire earth from space, produced music festivals for the Grateful Dead, served as "special adviser" to the Governor of California in the 1970s, and founded one of the first online communities-- The WELL-- in 1985 which stuck around long enough to win Best Online Publication from the Computer Press Association in 1990. Now, Brand lives in relative obscurity on a giant tugboat off the coast of California and continues to influence everyone from politicians to scientists to the newly energized organic food movement. While many of his acid-head compatriots burned out and fell by the wayside during the 1980s, Brand moved forward into a new era-- the hallmark of a personality with staying power, rather than a fad destined to die out like Paris Hilton or that girl from Jersey Shore whose name I've already forgotten.