During this year’s citywide 50th anniversary festivities for the Summer of Love, those who lived the events of 1967 have had ample opportunity to romanticize their stories of social change, altered consciousness and free love.
But what about the products of all that free love? Where are the stories of those children born to hippies, raised on communes, fed a diet of unusual foods and even more unusual philosophies?
In June, Litquake filled that void by hosting a panel discussion with three authors, all of whom penned memoirs about being raised in the shadow of the Summer of Love. Their accounts of growing up with parents who’d rejected the status quo are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and oftentimes harrowing. Ultimately, they represent the counterculture’s most important legacy of all: its own kids.
Listen above to the panel discussion and Q&A, moderated by KQED’s own Gabe Meline. Authors include:
Clane Hayward, author of The Hypocrisy of Disco: A Memoir
