'Turn on, tune in, drop out' - The time I spent backstage with Timothy Leary
by Dan Wooding
May 29, 2007
ANAHEIM, CA (ANS) -- I have just been watching a documentary on the History Channel here in America about the Hippie era and, featured heavily in it was Timothy Leary, the 1960s counterculture icon, who was the most famous proponent of LSD. He coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."It brought memories flooding back to me of the time I spent an hour backstage with Leary with my two sons, Andrew and Peter, in the green room of a TV show called "Hot Seat" on KDOC-TV Channel 56 in Anaheim, Southern California, which was hosted by Wally George, who pioneered what was later to be called "Insult Television."
Leary appeared to be extremely nervous and spent most of the time on the phone to his wife and then, when he went onstage to do battle with Wally George, we stood in the wings to watch the confrontation.
George began by saying, "Tonight, we have one of the most evil men in American history; a man responsible for the deaths of thousands of American youth."
Then he turned to Timothy Leary and said, "What do you say to that, Leary?"
Leary took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, Wally. I won't do it again."
For a moment, George was speechless, but soon recovered his composure and began attacking Leary until he got the drugs guru so rattled that he blew up and Wally did what he usually did - he ordered him off the show with his much-awaited comment, "You're Outta' Here!" as the racous audience waved U.S. flags and chanted, "Wah-lee! Wah-lee!"
Leary died about a year later shortly on May 31, 1996, and was one of the first people whose remains have been sent into space.
In this way, he was able to "Turn on, tune in, drop out." But where did he finish up is the question I ask? And what was the legacy that he left behind?
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
