I had first enrolled at UC-Berkeley in the Fall of 1959, but left after a half-semester to accompany a friend to Winter Park, Colorado to become a ski bum. After a lot of intervening adventures, I re-enrolled at UC-Berkeley in 1966, and got a neat little apartment on Euclid Ave., in the Berkeley Hills. It even had a fireplace, and I made one wood-collecting trip to the Sierras, to bring back some Sierra juniper to burn.
As for going back to school: having failed to complete my investigation into Indian-style mysticism, I figured I should now pursue Western scientific approaches to understanding human behavior and the interaction of humans and the environment. It was already becoming clear that we were making a mess of things. Books like “Silent Spring” and “The Population Bomb” were getting people thinking about what we were doing to the environment. Eventually, I fashioned my own individual major, which I called Human Ecology. The word “ecology” was just then starting to get some currency. This major included anthropology and a lot of biology.
I also began to study photography with the staff at the Student Union (ASUC) darkroom. This was an immensely rewarding activity, and gave me the best start possible on a life-long passion. The staff were Dave Bohn, Roger Minick and Arnold Henderson. Thanks guys!
Richard McCracken and I took a trip to the Southwest during Spring Break (April 1966).
Postcard, Monument Valley, 1966. Mailed on April 6, from Mexican Hat, Utah
Backside of above postcard, referring to a hike we were soon to take into Havasu Canyon. Other than the Supai inhabitants, who weren’t many, there was no one else around when we were down there. In a recent NY Times article on Havasu, the author relates that she and family took a helicopter into the canyon! What an adventure – how nice for them! According to the article (Sept. 6, 2015), 20,000 people now visit Havasu each year.
Monument Valley, the Totem Pole, April 1966
South Rim, sunrise view, April 1966
South Rim view, April 1966
South Rim, view of Unkar Rapid, April 1966
Later in the Spring of 1966, I was married to Karen Holdaway, before a Municipal Judge in Berkeley, CA. Eric Beck was our witness. I had first met Karen in 1960, at the Jackson Lake Lodge, in Grand Teton National Park, where we both worked. She was a fountain waitress and I the fountain runner. Like most of the employees there, she was a Mormon, from a small town near Provo, Utah. Karen was nothing less than regal, and I set my sights on her. It only took 6 years to pull it off.
Karen, Aspen, 1966
Karen, Aspen, 1966
Karen, Aspen, 1966
The story continues in the following post.
https://believesteve.org/2016/02/11/nols-uc-berkeley-summerfall-1966/
