
Inside the birth of the hippie movement: An exclusive excerpt from Dennis McNally's ‘The Last Great Dream'
In ' The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties,' longtime Grateful Dead publicist and cultural historian Dennis McNally traces the unlikely evolution of American counterculture.
Best known for his bestselling biography 'A Long Strange Trip,' McNally expands his focus to explore how poets, pranksters, musicians and misfits helped shape a generation.
From Beat-era coffeehouses to the acid-fueled gatherings of the 1960s, McNally charts how San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury became a crucible of cultural transformation.
'To me, the most surprising thing is that no one has really looked at where hippie came from, although God knows there have been enough books about the era,' he said.
With sharp detail and deep research, McNally brings to life legendary figures — such Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia— as well as the lesser-known locals who built what became the world's first psychedelic neighborhood.
'For what it's worth, I think my interest in bohemia came from the fact that I was in the boondocks of Maine and then upstate NY when all this interesting stuff was going on, and I pretty much missed it,' McNally said. 'So I've been scrambling to catch up on all that ever since.'
In this excerpt shared exclusively with the Chronicle, McNally recounts how local activists blocked a planned freeway through Golden Gate Park — preserving Haight-Ashbury for what came next. Musicians found both style and stage, while the self-proclaimed 'freaks' who moved in crafted a new identity rooted in peace, rebellion and radical creativity.
With the threat averted, McNally writes, the neighborhood was 'free to become something different.'
'I think 'The Last Great Dream' tracks something important because the social issues of the Haight-Ashbury, from an interest in the environment to organic food to yoga to the gentle male hippie archetype that led to a radical reorientation of gender all the way to transgender issues in 2025 – are still completely relevant,' McNally said.
He will speak about the bood during appearances at Green Apple Books in San Francisco on Thursday, May 15, and the Mill Valley Community Center on May 28.
Exclusive excerpt from 'The Last Great Dream'
One of the primary attractions of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood was the cheapness of its rents. The large and frequently grand homes there had been carved into flats during the Depression, but the main reason for the low prices in 1966 was the federal government's interstate highway program, which had planned to extend a freeway up Fell Street along the Panhandle and through Golden Gate Park, allowing drivers to race through the city on their way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Neighborhood civil rights activists Sue Bierman and her husband, Arthur, along with a clutch of groups like the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Association, were having none of it.
In fact, the engineers and bureaucrats had planned to carve the city into boxes with nine freeways; by 1959, the Board of Supervisors had rejected seven. Progressive Democrats and the Chronicle's Scott Newhall united to fight against centrist development Democrats like Governor Pat Brown and Mayor John Shelley, who had the support of the Hearst-owned Examiner, labor, and business interests. As with a corresponding resistance to a nuclear power plant planned for seventy miles north at Bodega Head, citizens offered a morality-based environmentalism that would eventually become official city policy. Finally, on March 21, 1966, the Board of Supervisors voted against the two remaining planned freeways. The Haight neighborhood was free to become something different.
As the year passed, Haight Street, the main commercial corridor of the neighborhood, began to transform. Business after business catering to the students and other youth renting the flats opened their doors. The previous residents had fled to the suburbs during the 1950s; the newcomers were pursuing an explicitly anti-suburban impulse. The first store intended for them was Mnasidika, a Mod clothing shop at the corner of Haight and Ashbury owned by a woman named Peggy Caserta, which opened in April 1965.
Mnasidika was one of Sappho's lovers, and the name honored Caserta's orientation; when she'd first come to the city, she'd seen women wearing jeans arrested as cross-dressers. Louisiana-born, she worked for Delta Air Lines and sold jeans, sweatshirts, and blazers her mother sewed back home and then shipped for free on Delta. The store had what Herb Caen said was a 'coffeehouse atmosphere.' Caserta was 'energetic' and 'innovative,' and Caen approved.
By 1966, floating on LSD, she'd repainted her store with black-and-white stripes and purple swirls. The Grateful Dead would model clothes for her. The Airplane's stylish Marty Balin was her first really good customer. Bell-bottom pants were ever more popular, and Caserta began to sell a version sewn by her friend Judy Dugan, who'd created them so her boyfriend could get his jeans over his boots. Finally, she visited the Levi Strauss factory and convinced an executive that bell-bottoms would sell, even though she could only afford to order ten dozen at a time. A very smart guy, he bought her pitch and let her have them exclusively for six months. In 1969, Levi's launched the 646 line of jeans, which would make the company a very large pile of money.
Ron and Jay Thelin would open the store that would come to represent the Haight for many — the Psychedelic Shop — at 1535 Haight Street, on January 3, 1966. Their father had managed the Haight Street Woolworth in the early 1950s, although they'd come of age in Yuba City, 125 miles north. Both of them had been Eagle Scout products of an all-American upbringing; Ron acknowledged that he'd voted for Nixon in the 1962 governor's race. But in the army, he'd read Thoreau and the Beats, then spent two years in Taiwan, where he learned some Mandarin and read Zen. He 'found out that the people with the beards (beatniks) were the people who really dug Thoreau, who really dug the Declaration of Independence, who were artists.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Pope Leo XIV rocks White Sox hat at the Vatican in new photos
Pope Leo XIV brought his White Sox fandom to the Vatican on Wednesday. While holding a general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Chicago-bred pontiff was photographed wearing a black White Sox cap as he greeted onlookers, including a bride and groom who appeared to be fellow fans of the AL Central club. Pope Leo XIV's sports allegiances were thrust into the spotlight in May when he made history after being elected the first American pope. He succeeded Pope Francis, who died in April at the age of 88 after a lengthy battle with double pneumonia. 6 Pope Leo XIV was seen wearing a Chicago White Sox hat at the Vatican on June 11, 2025. AFP via Getty Images 6 The American-born pope greeted newlyweds in his White Sox hat. REUTERS The pope's brother, John Prevost, quickly set the record straight over which Chicago baseball team his sibling preferred amid Cubs chatter. 'He was never ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from,' Prevost told local Chicago station WGN TV. 'He was always a Sox fan. Our mother was a Cubs fan. I don't know, maybe that clued in there and our dad was a Cardinals fan, so I don't know where all that came from. 'And all the aunts, our mom's family was from the north side, so that's why they were Cubs fans.' 6 Pope Leo XIV waved to onlookers in St. Peter's Square on June 11, 2025. Getty Images 6 The pope's sports allegiances were thrust into the spotlight after he was elected. REUTERS Born Robert Francis Prevost, the Windy City native has a publicized history of supporting the White Sox, as resurfaced video showed him wearing team gear during Game 1 of the 2005 World Series against the Astros. Chicago swept Houston in four games. 6 Pope Leo XIV was elected the first American pope in May 2025. REUTERS 6 The White Sox commemorated Pope Leo XIV with a graphic at Rate Field in May 2025. AP Last month, the White Sox installed a Pope Leo XIV graphic at Rate Field in honor of their most famous fan. Beyond the White Sox, who lost a record 121 games last season, Pope Leo XIV is also a Villanova Wildcat, having graduated from the university in 1977. Knicks fans were hopeful Pope Leo's Villanova ties would fuel a championship berth with former Wildcats Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. The Knicks ultimately lost to the Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Gavin Newsom's Staff Just Destroyed Jon Voight's Rant With A Single "Simpsons" Picture
Jon Voight is one of Donald Trump's few longtime celeb fans. The Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 actor has been known to deliver a monologue in front of an American flag stanning his favorite guy, Trump. He decided to hop online and send a message to Gov. Newsom on Tuesday: jonvoight/Twitter: @jonvoight Related: Here's Why People Are Raising Their Eyebrows Over Chris Pratt's Post About The Fatal Shooting Of His 'Parks And Recreation' Costar Jonathan Joss Let me summarize it with some quotes. "You're a fool blaming Trump. What are you doing for this destruction, of these animals destroying Los Angeles? Are you there, talking calmly with them, you fool?" he asks. "They would burn you down like they're burning the cars and the American flag, with no regard for humanity. This is not about Trump. This is about protecting the people from these animals and criminals trying to destroy us." Related: 21 Times Celebrities Revealed Wildly Juicy, Shady, Or Even Disturbing Things In Interviews He goes on to call Newsom a "lying dog" and a "disgrace." And then he says Trump is going to save America: "We the people, we stand, I stand with Donald Trump to make this state great again. We the people choose Donald Trump to save America." He says more, but you can watch that for yourself here. Anyway, Gavin Newsom's press team responded to the video with this: I mean......... Bye! Also in Celebrity: Chrissy Teigen Posted The Results Of Her Hairline Lowering Surgery, And Ouch Also in Celebrity: 18 Celebrities Who Called Out Other Celebs On Social Media For Bad, Problematic, Or Just Plain Mean Behavior Also in Celebrity: Here Are 16 Actors Who Saved Their Skin By Turning Down Roles In Movies That People Notoriously Hated
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Two Hollywood Giants Sue AI Image Engine Midjourney Calling It A 'Bottomless Pit Of Plagiarism'
Disney and NBCUniversal are going after Midjourney, a generative-AI tool trained on internet data that can be used to make everything from silly memes to short films made entirely of AI slop. The two Hollywood companies filed a lawsuit against the self-funded startup in Federal Court on Tuesday 'to stop its theft of their intellectual property.' The complaint accuses Midjourney of profiting off user subscriptions in return for letting them generate images based on copyrighted material ranging from Deadpool and Darth Vader to Shrek and the Minions, Variety reports. Like other generative-AI tools, Midjourney is more or less indiscriminately trained on whatever data exists on the internet, no matter who it belongs to. Disney and NBC Universal even reference a past interview with the company's founder, David Holz. Asked back in 2022 by Forbes whether it gets permission for any of the work it copies, he replied, 'No. There isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from.' The lawsuit alleges Midjourney made $300 million in revenue last year off of roughly 21 million users. 'By helping itself to Plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation—Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,' the lawsuit reads. 'Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing. Midjourney's conduct misappropriates Disney's and Universal's intellectual property and threatens to upend the bedrock incentives of U.S. copyright law that drive American leadership in movies, television, and other creative arts.' This is the highest-profile legal attack yet on a generative-AI company, following lawsuits by The New York Times and others against companies like OpenAI for copying written work. The outcome in court would have major consequences for the viability of a technology that companies like Microsoft, Google, and Meta are investing billions in. Without the ability to essentially copy the internet for free, the entire business model behind a lot of generative-AI and large language algorithms falls part. 'Midjourney's bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S copyright laware not only an attack on Disney, Universal, and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry which has created millions of jobs and contributed more than $260 billion to the nation's economy,' the companies claim in their lawsuit. 'This case is not a 'close call' under well-settled copyright law.' . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.