AMERICANWAY
FEBRUARY2016
51
hippies inSanFrancisco, and therewasaband
called ‘theGratefulDead!’Whoeverheardofsuch
a thing?”)Our firststopon thevacationwould
be to thatverycity,whereHaight-Ashburyhad
become theepicenterof theSummerofLove.
Iwasalso infatuatedbysurfing.BruceBrown’s
documentary,
TheEndlessSummer
,hadcome
outayearearlier, andIhadseen it twoor three
timesalready.Myownexperienceridingwaves
consistedofnothingmore thanbodysurfing the
timidbreakatastateparkon theJerseyshore, soI
was transportedby thoseshotsofBrownsearching
theworld forwhathecalled“theperfectwave.”
AndournextstopafterSanFranciscowouldbe
Honolulu, justacross the islandofOahu from the
NorthShore’s iconicsurfingbeaches.
Mysisterandbrother—Carol, then11, andKen,
then8—wereessentiallymypeers.Wehadpacked
abunchof
Peanuts
paperbacks toamuseourselves.
Wehadmemorized the lyricsofTomLehrer’s
satiricsongs,whichwe’d firstheard fromour
politicized fatherandmother.As forourparents,
theirvacationreadingwasaguidebookentitled
Hawaiion$5and$10aDay
,whosecovershowed
anebullientyoungwomanwearinga lei.
Beforewegot to the island, though, therewas
SanFrancisco toexplore. I imploredmymother
to takeme toHaight-AshburysoIcould indulge
myhippie fantasy.Fromashaggystreetvendor,
weboughtacopyof theundergroundpaper, the
Maverick
, andon itscoverwasadrawingofGeorge
Harrison.As ifby fate,my favoriteBeatlehadmade
hisownpilgrimage to theHaight justaweekor two
earlier, lookingsuitably trippy inapaisleycoatand
apairofheart-shapedsunglasses.
My fatherhadadifferentcelebrityencounter
inmind.Heknewhowmuchwekidsadored the
I imploredmy
mother to takeme to
Haight-Ashbury
soIcould indulgemy
hippie fantasy.
PHOTOS
WADEGRIFFITH/GETTY IMAGES; KLAKARAVA/GETTY IMAGES; JEAN-PIERRELESCOURRET/GETTY IMAGES
