A memoir of a remarkable series of events, colorful people, and landscapes of North America and Hawaii.
WHAT OTHERS SAY:
A wonderful, introspective yet entertaining romp through the 1960s as seen through the eyes and sensitivity of an artist, yet interpreted and recounted by a scientist with a great respect for nature and native culture.
Palul sculpts and shapes his stories with dual purpose, to learn from experience and revel in the memories.
-- George Winship, The Village Wordsmith
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Some memoirs tell one the story of one person, chronicling important moments in the writer’s life—a history of a life once lived. Palul Rideout’s memoir, however, is a different, beautiful beast.
I savored every moment of Rideout’s incredibly true tale about coming-of-age during the tumultuous ‘60s counterculture movement and everything that brought: Activism, experimentation with drugs, free love and journeys of both the mind and physical body.
“VisionQuest” isn’t just the account of one man’s life—it’s bigger than that—this is the about the intersection of art and politics, influence and inspiration, family and passion.
--Rachel Leibrock | writer and editor of Sacramento News and Review
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To the Class of 58": There was one of our classmates that has traveled the roads we only thought of. Paul Rideout has published a book "Vision Quest: A Saga of the 1960's".
You can read his book on line. I did, and really enjoyed the trip!
Paul started out up on Bay Road, went thru the Easton school system with us, then started his life odyssey without the reservations or programing instilled by our social environment.
I found this book a great memoir of the travels of one thru the 60's that dared to take the roads less traveled... Good Job Paul!
--Joe Lyons, HS Classmate from 1958
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Palul,
I am still reading your book and, never having been an adventurous soul myself, I am vicariously enjoying your youthful adventures. I heard myself laugh-out-loud when you and your friend Art were in the car and Art made his words come out of the car radio next to you.
You were a wild and crazy young man. I cannot believe some of the things you did. You sure made yourself some memories. Your stories are fun to read and your vivid descriptions bring it all to life. Thanks for sharing,
Jean H.
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Synopsis:
From the New England countryside, an inquisitive youth begins a search for his identity. He is twenty when the period of the tremulous sixties begins. Just out of college with a Zoology degree, his wandering pits the logic of his scientific background against the uncontrollable urges of the artist inside. The artist is trying to get out to find and express an uncertain meaning in life.
His adventures in this decade take him from New England to Hawaii, to LA and San Francisco, laboratories, desert lakes, hot springs, caves and teepees, Pacific beaches, Mexico; then back across the northern USA to Boston. A war protester and conscientious objector, he escapes the Vietnam War, freaking out the Boston police in the process. He returns in a VW bus to San Francisco by way of the TransCanadian Hwy. Fragmented romances, LSD, Haight-Ashbury; then again to Oahu and Maui and eventually to the Mts of Northern Calif.
A tableau of friends and lovers pepper an exciting journey as he searches for beauty and love and meaning.
It is written with self-depreciating humor, yet always a deeper meaning appears to the astute reader. He writes from the perspective of an older man, but a number of selections from some of his fifty-year-old journals are included, giving the reader a sense of being there. The journals contain his feelings as well as his adventures.
Illustrated with a number of photos taken during that period are some of his earlier art works. Throughout this sixties autobiography, we get a historical background of the decade as experienced by Paul. We also find out what lies behind Paul PALUL Rideout as he matures into an artist.
