how did you ever manage to do things for free? everything is so expensive! even getting everything for free rent on a place to put something would still be very expensive. i'm curious to know, how did you do it?
As a career choice! I knew a woman in the Haight whom from the '60s untill I moved away 7 years ago was/is maintaining on the gold, silver and other riches from the dumpsters of San Francisco.........
I stayed with the Diggers for a time in 66' How did they get their stuff... well the free store was all donations of stuff ppl didnt want anymore. The Food stuff was strong armed from the local merchants They were mostly Heroin addicts. Emmett died from an overdose of the heroin He had gotten greedy and he had ripped his buddy Peter Coyote off for his stash and that was the end of Emmit Grogan. Silent Steve told me that himself.
Nothing is free-everything costs to make or manufacture. Buy it second third hand-garage sales whatever. My wife just picked up an iron for 2.00 and a large plate for 1.00. If you don't have the cash, wait and save for the stuff you need. Give up on the wants. No one has to live on the street-need a meal, a bed, head to that shelter Working helps with the cash situation. Pool with good people-that will make rent
The Diggers have a great website...that's where we found each other, Mary after 30 some years! They have the complete Morningstar scrapbook online..I still have the original copy.
When I was doing research for my book. I came across The Diggers. I hung out for a little while. I did leave a message for GE folks if they happened to drop by 'looking' and lo' and behold.. Rita pops up. I had been talking to Ranger here in the GE thread. Once you two knew I had contact with the other.. it was on..lol Sometimes I think, we reunited just to save Ranger's life and give Rita stability. To keep on topic. The Diggers are still vital at large in Hippiedom. The Merry Pranksters were way cool. The Pranksters were Diggers. A merry band of misfits that were into Street Theater antics, thursting gorilla theater tactics upon unsuspecting passers by. After the Founding Father, Emmit Grogan overdosed The Diggers kind of drifted, but The Merry Prankters continued to use their 'shock therapy' on the straight populus of tourists that came to gawk at the Freak Show in Haight Ashbury. It was Emmit that decided that the Hippie was Dead and held a mock funeral in 67' marching a casket with full ragalia and a host of mourners making up the procession. He considered the Love had been replaced with Needles full of regret and dishonor as he himself had surcame to The Devil's Medicine, Heroin. A brilliant Man, with all the weakness of a Human Being. His blatant display of forceful requests itself damped/tainted the Vibe of Love, Peace and Unity with in the neighborhood as he strong armed his way into getting what he wanted. He became a bully and threatened the merchants into giving him 'donations' and called them greedy as he demand 'free' items from their stores. They were for sure intimidated by his threats and give they did. Emmit was an anarcist and a revelutionary. He wanted to tear down the government and create chaos. He really didn't have a plan for rebuilding and that was the flaw in his plan to dismantle the system. Emmit 'gleamed' his format from the original Diggers of England in the 16/1700s. http://exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/diggers.html I would have like to have seen all Emmit's firey energy without the accompaniment of heroin. I think The Movement would have benefited more from a more reasoning/rational Emmit. BTW The Hippie didnt Die, we are alive and well, the ones that are left, that is. There are still Diggers, the ones that survived are still in contact. These are just my memories and are as accurate as I can recall. You have to take in consideration it was 45 yrs or so ago and it was The 60s sh
