Merry Pranksters leader Ken Babbs, Ken Kesey’s best friend, is ‘hooked’ on spotlight, adds to psychedelic 1960s myth

1990 Press Photo Ken Kesey & the original Merry Prankster rode a bus

The Merry Pranksters' bus, shown here in Portland years after its famous cross-country trip, never failed to draw a crowd.Oregonian

Ken Babbs is miffed that the big publishers back east don’t seem very interested in his memoir.

“It doesn’t fit into their idea of anything,” he says, on the phone from his 6-acre farm in Lane County. “None of them realize the size of the audience I’m dealing with.”


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