As I write this story, I do so in our new home in Langley. We love Langley and have found a lovely country home there. We looked all over the Lower Mainland and realized how much had changed in the 43 years since we left Vancouver for Vancouver Island.

We miss our family and good friends on the Island, but we knew that we needed to start this new chapter in our life with other friends and family who have never left the mainland. We are grateful to be able to continue the journey of life.

The latest poster (above) I am sharing is for the band Paisley Rain and is one of a series of posters that were created by the Hydrogen People. Paisley Rain was a short-lived local band. Details about them can be found on the “Bands of the Pacific Northwest” website. The Hydrogen People were the late Frank Lewis, the late Lloyd McKinnon, and King Anderson, who is alive and well and living the good life on one of our many Gulf Islands.

These posters were first sold at the Teen-Age Fair at the Seaforth Armoury on Burrard Street 50 years ago. The posters sold for $1 each, and there was a series of different band posters. This was the first time in Vancouver that band posters were sold that did not advertise a specific event.

When I was released from jail, I was in rough shape (see previous installments; details are also in my book). I am not sure how, but shortly after my release, Harry Ornest—the famed local businesman and sports entrepreneur—approached me to run the Teen-Age Fair for the second time.

I was very surprised, as Harry was aware of my bust and my recent release from jail. Harry did not care; he was more interested in giving me a second chance. He was truly a wonderful human being, who has also passed. As I write these stories of 50 years ago, it seems that so many close friends are gone. Fifty years ago, I was 18 years old, but most my friends were in their 20s or early 30s, so it is not surprising that they are gone.

I am very aware that 50 years ago it was the Summer of Love. I am now attempting to create a celebration to commemorate that time. It is not easy, as I work with a group of friends both old and new. When I asked Joe McDonald (of Country Joe and the Fish music fame) why he thought things have changed so much during the past 50 years, he replied: “Because now it is the summer of money.“ (If anyone wants to help with this project in any way, please step forward.)

Yes, a lot has changed, and yet so much is the same. When I helped put on the first “Be-In” at Stanley Park, it was so much easier. Everyone wanted Country Joe and the Fish to perform. It was simple: I put on three paid gigs and Joe agreed to do the Be-In for free, along with all the other local bands. What a concept: bands playing for free.

Even the weather has changed now. Back then we tried to warn everyone to take better care of our planet or there would be a price to pay, and now we have global warming. Greenpeace knew, but 50 years ago they were considered a bunch of radicals. All we can do is keep trying.

The posters created by the Hydrogen People did not do as well as expected at the Teen-Age Fair. I had believed, and still do, that they were great art. It was not until I wrote my book (see details below) that I would find out who financed the printing of the posters. At the time, it was not important; it was only money. Sometimes you had it; other times you didn’t.

So, what to do in the Summer of Love after the Teen-Age Fair was finished?

Well, the love of my life had been banished to Italy in the hopes that it would break us apart. Someone said, ‘Lets go to Toronto!” So my hot Mustang convertible was filled with good friends and we were off to Toronto.

I was still strung out; since my release, I had dealt with my addiction by deciding to take a lot of speed. This was not a good mix. Somehow I survived. When I think back to those days now (and listen to how people talk about the Summer of Love), it was really not that great. I believed at the time that all my demons could be dealt with by staying stoned.

It was, though, a long, strange summer.

I returned to Vancouver in September, and who knew that I would again get busted? Strange times, indeed.