Description:
Owsley Stanley also known as The Bear, is a former underground LSD cook, the first to produce large quantities of pure LSD.
His total production is estimated at around half a kilogram of LSD, or roughly 5 million 100-microgram "hits" of normal potency, although accounts vary widely. The widespread and low-cost (often given away free) availability of Stanley's high-quality LSD in the San Francisco area in the mid-1960s may have been crucial for the emergence of the hippie movement during the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury area, which one historian of that movement, Charles Perry, has described as "one big
Owsley Stanley also known as The Bear, is a former underground LSD cook, the first to produce large quantities of pure LSD.
His total production is estimated at around half a kilogram of LSD, or roughly 5 million 100-microgram "hits" of normal potency, although accounts vary widely. The widespread and low-cost (often given away free) availability of Stanley's high-quality LSD in the San Francisco area in the mid-1960s may have been crucial for the emergence of the hippie movement during the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury area, which one historian of that movement, Charles Perry, has described as "one big LSD party." Stanley was also an accomplished sound engineer, and the longtime soundman and financier for seminal psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead.
Stanley designed some of the first high-fidelity sound systems for rock music, culminating in the massive "Wall of Sound" electrical amplification system used by the Grateful Dead in their live shows, at the time a highly innovative feat of engineering, and was involved with the founding of high-end musical instrument maker Alembic Inc and the pre-eminent concert sound equipment manufacturer Meyer Sound. The combination of his notoriety in the psychedelic scene and his reclusive tendencies—in part cultivated to confuse the authorities; he avoided being photographed and refused to be interviewed for many years—led to the perpetuation of many inaccurate tales about him.
Stanley died in an automobile accident in Australia on March 13, 2011. A statement released on behalf of Stanley's family said the car crash occurred near his home in far north Queensland. He is survived by his wife Sheila, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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