Ram Dass was one of the most influential spiritual teachers in the West since the late ‘60’s, sharing his homegrown wisdom based on traditional Eastern philosophy. I had the good fortune to have a couple of hour-long video chats with him as I was writing my novel Nirvana Blues. The insights and knowledge were most valuable in helping make the story authentic. His journey from a Harvard University professor (known as Richard Alpert) to a yogi was documented in the book Be Here Now and inspired many people to look in the same direction. One person was Steve Jobs, who after reading the book as a teenager, went to India in search of Ram Dass’s teacher. This true story was the inspiration for my novel.
Refugees from all around Europe including a group of misfit artists found a safe haven in neutral Switzerland one hundred years ago while World War One raged. A mix of painters, poets, sculptors and performers banded together and founded the avant-garde art movement known as Dada.
It was a dark and stormy night two hundred years ago this June when Frankenstein was first animated in a Swiss chateau by the 18 year old Mary Shelly. She created the legendary monster after a challenge by Lord Byron who had invited a group of young British literary types to spend the summer on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Sometimes it takes a death to remind you the value of life. I got several messages yesterday to tell me the CEO I used to work for had taken his life at 59 years old. The last time I had seen him was in a coffee shop where we had chatted about the changing neighborhood and the noise from the upcoming techno festival that day we were both trying to escape.
