The Hippie Hitchhiker from Nebraska

In a story arc of loss exile and self-reliance here a roadside view of a lost America never glimpsed by historians journalists or celebrities.In 1966 a teenager dreams of finding ultimate wisdom and writing timeless poetry. Horrified by the likelihood of combat service in Vietnam he embarks on a hitchhiking journey to evade the military draft. He becomes a homeless drifter estranged from family and finds brief notoriety as a vagabond poet followed by publishing success before careening beyond the limits of language.Over the course of 22000 reckless miles he experiences a Sixties history long overlooked: Wells Street in Chicagos Old Town the mimeograph-revolution waged by Cleveland poets an outlaw Route 66 the San Francisco Diggers serving daily meals the Central Park Easter Be-In a head shop at the epicenter of St Marks Place in the East Village and the travesty of post-Summer-of-Love Haight-Ashbury.