Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary was an influential psychologist and a prominent figure in the counterculture movement of the 1960s, best known for advocating the use of psychedelic substances as tools for personal growth and enlightenment. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Leary had a conventional upbringing despite experiencing family challenges, including the abandonment of his father. He pursued higher education in psychology, earning degrees from Washington State University and the University of California, Berkeley. His academic career began at Harvard University, where he conducted pioneering research on personality and social norms.
Leary's trajectory changed dramatically after his experimentation with hallucinogens, leading to his controversial promotion of substances like psilocybin and LSD. He famously coined the slogan "Turn on, tune in, drop out," which became emblematic of the era's countercultural ethos. However, his advocacy faced legal challenges, resulting in arrests and imprisonment for drug-related offenses. After escaping prison, Leary lived in exile before returning to the U.S. and eventually transitioning to a career in software development. He continued to lecture until his death in 1996, leaving a complex legacy intertwined with the exploration of consciousness and the cultural upheaval of his time.
Timothy Leary
Writer
- Born: October 22, 1920
- Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts
- Died: May 31, 1996
- Place of death: Beverly Hills, California
American psychologist and promoter of psychedelic drug use
Major offense: Drug possession
Active: 1965-1970
Locale: Laredo, Texas; Laguna Beach, California; Poughkeepsie, New York
Sentence: Thirty years in prison plus a fine of $30,000; served two years, then escaped; upon recapture, served almost four years
Early Life
Timothy Leary (LEER-ee) had a conventional childhood, although his father abandoned his family. The young Leary graduated from high school in Springfield, Massachusetts, without distinction. As an adult, he pursued studies at several educational institutions, including Holy Cross College, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the University of Alabama. Then, in the early 1940’s, Leary was drafted into the U.S. Army. His military experience was gained at an American hospital, where he met his first wife and became a serious student.
Academic Career
Leary finished his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama and then continued in psychology, earning an M.A. from Washington State University in 1946, then a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1950. Leary’s area of expertise was the developing field of personality and social norms. His first academic appointment was to the position of research director of the Psychiatric Clinic at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California (1955-1958). At Kaiser, he published his renowned The Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality (1957).
This professional triumph was followed almost immediately by family tragedy, when his first wife, Marianne, killed herself in 1958, leaving Leary with two small children. Almost immediately, he quit work. He spent some time living in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he reportedly ingested his first hallucinogenic substance, Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms. The euphoric power of this experience laid the foundation for further experiments with psychedelics and his belief that drug-fueled religious ecstasy could harness personal growth.
The academic venue for his first experiments with synthesized psylocybin, and later lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), was the staid campus of Harvard University. Leary was offered a position at the Center for Research in Human Personality in 1959. Initially, he performed relatively orthodox teaching and research activities at Harvard but soon moved into experimentation with psychedelic substances, which prompted his departure from Harvard in 1963.
After leaving Harvard, Leary operated several experimental communes in Mexico and near Poughkeepsie, New York. Some of these communities operated under the auspices of his International Foundation for Internal Freedom, which developed into the League for Spiritual Discovery. None of the organizations were characterized by financial viability or long-term stability. His personal life was also scripted by short-term romantic liaisons, interspersed with his four different marriages.
Legal Action and Outcome
When Leary first began experimenting with psychedelic substances, they were legal in the United States (until 1966, when the federal government imposed regulations). However, in 1965 Leary was arrested in Texas for marijuana possession and ultimately sentenced to thirty years in prison plus a fine of thirty thousand dollars. After a series of legal appeals and additional drug charges, Leary was remanded to a California correctional institution in 1970. He escaped that year, reportedly assisted by the Weathermen revolutionary unit.
Leary spent two years exiled in Algeria and Europe before the American government managed to extradite him from Afghanistan, and he reentered the American penal system. After several years in prison, he was released in 1976 and followed a law-abiding career in software development, complemented by some lecturing, until his death from cancer in 1996.
Impact
Timothy Leary was best known for his promotion of psychedelic substances as a means to enlightenment. He played an iconic role in the counterculture movement of the 1960’s—coining the phrase, “Turn on, tune in, drop out”—and interacted with all the important personages of the time.
Further Reading
Greenfield, Robert. Timothy Leary: A Biography. Orlando, Fla: Harcourt, 2006. Substantial and scathing biography.
Henderson, Leigh A., and William J. Glass, eds. LSD: Still with Us After All These Years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. Provides information about LSD, including personal accounts documenting its appeal for users.
Leary, Timothy. Flashbacks: An Autobiography—A Personal and Cultural History of an Era. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1990. Leary’s own account of his life.
McWilliams, John C. The 1960’s Cultural Revolution. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. A historical rendering of the era, including Leary’s involvement.
Stevens, Jay. Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987. A detailed account by a journalist fascinated with the era; covers Leary’s contribution to the times.
Strack, Stephen. “Interpersonal Theory and the Interpersonal Circumplex: Timothy Leary’s Legacy.” Journal of Personality Assessment 66, no. 2 (1996): 212-216. Documentation of Leary’s professional contributions.