Lee Bridges, known by many as the Cannabis Poet has decided to leave this world with the same grace he lived in it. He's in Amsterdam surrounded by friends and family who are holding a sort of vigil. My dear friend Lee, at age 77, has stopped taking medication and refused treatment for his illness which has now entered it's final stage. A fixture of the Amsterdam coffeeshop scene, Lee has portrayed the city & Dutch culture in a number of poety books and most recently in his just published autobiography, which I had the great pleasure to help edit, Me, Too: Reflections of the Cannabis Poet. Recent articles about Lee have appeared in High Times, Soft Secrets and other publications. Lee is a popular personality at the annual HT Cannabis Cup held in Amsterdam. Lee has been actively involved with cannabis since the 1950s, living in places like Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Tangier in the 1960s, hanging out in cafes and reading poetry. He coordinated mixed-media combining writers, singers and musicians in avante garde productions in Paris salons, Amsterdam restaurants, and other public venues. Mr. Bridges' approach to life is enviable. With his positive outlook on life, Lee lives very much in the moment, savoring the passing play like he does a fine wine, and adding some spice just to keep things hopping. Lee reveals in his autobigraphy a split personality (hence the title Me, Two). Between writing poetry, doing gigs and posing as a model, Lee occasionally would feel the urge and sometimes the financial need to take a trip to places like Lebanon or Morocco, Kashmir or Afghanistan. Never the tourist, Lee's travels spiced business with pleasure, traveling with adventure, picking up choice slabs of primo hashish along the hippy trail and seasoning Europe with righteous smoke. It wasn't all pleasurable, cause Lee was incarcerated and wrote some powerful poetry about his loss of freedom. I've known Lee for four years, and I've never met a kinder soul. Lee embodies the spirit of cannabis, laid back, gentle, creative and sensitive. A very cool soul brother. Friends of Lee who might read this are urged to contact him and pay your final respects. He would love to hear from you. He is not expected to last the week. If you want to know more about Lee please visit his website: http://cannabispoet.com
that's fuckin cool. Sad to hear though, that he's so sick. May his death not be the end of the crusade, but a turning point!
Update: I just heard that people are flying in from all over the world to see Lee! Today there were 30 people there & Lee was sitting up and giving away his prized ties to his friends.
wow thats really sad that he is about to pass. Ive never heard of him but the way you speak of him skip he is obviously a great guy.
One of Lee's Poems: A FUNNY FEELING Yeah... my mama used to say "Son, trust in the Lord", Yes, Ma'am... but it sounded Funny, and I wondered, who was That and, what did it mean... And in all of the places that I have been and of all the Peoples I have met, and of all The things I have done, and of The stories I have heard, and The tales I have told, I still Don't know who that is, but Mama was right
I've been over to visit Lee at his apartment several times in the last week. His spirits are high and he is very at peace with his situation. Lee' been extremely pleased to have had so many friends visit him. Lee has been a great friend since I moved to Amsterdam over 7 years ago.
Lee Bridges, the Cannabis Poet passed away this morning. There will be a celebration of his life this coming Monday, Feb. 21st in Amsterdam.
Then again there's Lee's website: http://cannabispoet.com Which has been recently updated with a Memorial guestbook to add your thoughts. Peace all
