By Eric Spitznagel, Vanity Fair
May 19, 2011
If you’re in the northern California area this weekend, be prepared—most of the state is going to smell like patchouli and Baby Boomer tears. Wavy Gravy is turning 75, and he’s celebrating with a “Birthday Boogie” on Saturday at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California, just across the bridge from San Francisco. There’ll be performances by surviving members of the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, and more aging hippies than you’ve probably seen outside of a History Channel documentary.
If you can’t make it, there’s a second celebration on May 27th at New York’s Beacon Theatre, with guests like Dr. John, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, and David Crosby. Two bicoastal all-star jams may seem a little excessive for a guy that most people remember, if they remember him at all, as a former Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor.
But Gravy’s made plenty of contributions to popular culture that don’t involve caramel or cashews. Among other things, he traveled the country with the Merry Pranksters, mentored Lenny Bruce, emceed all three Woodstock music festivals, and loaned a typewriter to Bob Dylan to write “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.”
And that barely scratches the surface of his remarkable life. I called Gravy at his home in Berkeley, an 11-bedroom “hippie Hyannisport” (his words) that he shares with a dog and whomever knocks.
Eric Spitznagel: You’ll be 75 on Sunday. Did you think you’d make it this long?
Wavy Gravy: I didn’t think I’d make 30.
Most of the legends of 60s activism—Jerry Rubin, Huey P. Newton, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg—have died off. Does it get lonely being the last hippie standing?
Well, I always think of what Hunter S. Thompson said: “When the going gets weird, the weird turns pro.”
Meaning what? If you make it to 75, you’re a professional?
I think so. Wiser people than I have said that if knew they were going to last this long, they would’ve taken better care of themselves. I just finished another spinal surgery, but I can still hobble from place to place.
What's the secret to your longevity?
I’ve been married to the same woman for forty years, and whenever people ask us how we managed to stay married for so long, we usually say as one voice, “What’s the secret? Don’t get divorced!”
So the secret to a long life is don’t die?
Right. Just keep fogging mirrors. That’s the best advice I can give you.
You’ve got two birthday bashes coming up, one of them this weekend. For a guy who hobbles everywhere, that seems like an awful lot.
Well the second one, in New York, is a sit-down show. The one this weekend is more of a dance. It’s at the Craneway Pavilion, where they used to make jeeps and tanks during World War II. We’re going to bring a different vibe to it. Nothing at my party is going to be about war. And all the money we raise is gonna be used to help blind people not bump into stuff.
And how does that work exactly?
It’s my foundation, which I helped start back in 1978. We’re going to help orchestrate over three million sight-seeing operations in Asia and Africa.
Is this foundation called Helping Blind People Not Bump Into Stuff?
It’s the Seva Foundation. But I like your name better.
To read the full interview visit Vanity Fair's website.
If you’re in the northern California area this weekend, be prepared—most of the state is going to smell like patchouli and Baby Boomer tears. Wavy Gravy is turning 75, and he’s celebrating with a “Birthday Boogie” on Saturday at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California, just across the bridge from San Francisco. There’ll be performances by surviving members of the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, and more aging hippies than you’ve probably seen outside of a History Channel documentary.
If you can’t make it, there’s a second celebration on May 27th at New York’s Beacon Theatre, with guests like Dr. John, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, and David Crosby. Two bicoastal all-star jams may seem a little excessive for a guy that most people remember, if they remember him at all, as a former Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor.
But Gravy’s made plenty of contributions to popular culture that don’t involve caramel or cashews. Among other things, he traveled the country with the Merry Pranksters, mentored Lenny Bruce, emceed all three Woodstock music festivals, and loaned a typewriter to Bob Dylan to write “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.”
And that barely scratches the surface of his remarkable life. I called Gravy at his home in Berkeley, an 11-bedroom “hippie Hyannisport” (his words) that he shares with a dog and whomever knocks.
Eric Spitznagel: You’ll be 75 on Sunday. Did you think you’d make it this long?
Wavy Gravy: I didn’t think I’d make 30.
Most of the legends of 60s activism—Jerry Rubin, Huey P. Newton, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg—have died off. Does it get lonely being the last hippie standing?
Well, I always think of what Hunter S. Thompson said: “When the going gets weird, the weird turns pro.”
Meaning what? If you make it to 75, you’re a professional?
I think so. Wiser people than I have said that if knew they were going to last this long, they would’ve taken better care of themselves. I just finished another spinal surgery, but I can still hobble from place to place.
What's the secret to your longevity?
I’ve been married to the same woman for forty years, and whenever people ask us how we managed to stay married for so long, we usually say as one voice, “What’s the secret? Don’t get divorced!”
So the secret to a long life is don’t die?
Right. Just keep fogging mirrors. That’s the best advice I can give you.
You’ve got two birthday bashes coming up, one of them this weekend. For a guy who hobbles everywhere, that seems like an awful lot.
Well the second one, in New York, is a sit-down show. The one this weekend is more of a dance. It’s at the Craneway Pavilion, where they used to make jeeps and tanks during World War II. We’re going to bring a different vibe to it. Nothing at my party is going to be about war. And all the money we raise is gonna be used to help blind people not bump into stuff.
And how does that work exactly?
It’s my foundation, which I helped start back in 1978. We’re going to help orchestrate over three million sight-seeing operations in Asia and Africa.
Is this foundation called Helping Blind People Not Bump Into Stuff?
It’s the Seva Foundation. But I like your name better.
To read the full interview visit Vanity Fair's website.
