A gratuitous anniversary. Well, lets see… What was Allen up to fifty years ago on this day? – He was writing from Berkeley to his friend, Gary Snyder (and wife Masa) in Nevada City, this brief note – as follows (his generosity, activity, valued friendships, even in these few words, fully in evidence):
Dear Gary and Masa, I’m still wrapp’d up in brown tapes – living in Berkeley. Should I not sent Lew Welch his grand? but where? Your poem on Coyote/Ananda [Editorial note – most likely, “The Call of The Wild”, subsequently published in Turtle Island] gets better with the weeks. I’ll come again before I go. Saw Phil (Whalen) with Don Allen at phone and spent day in Bolinas, he’s in charming and healthy mind, strong, no worry. I love you as always. I have been perfecting Vajra Guru tune and voice
Love,
Allen