Hammond Guthrie’s AsEverWas: Memoirs of a Beat Survivor

AsEverWas: Memoirs of a Beat Survivor by Hammond Guthrie / 2nd edition / Jorvik Press / 978-0988412231 / paperback, 296 pages

The publisher provided Empty Mirror with a review copy.

When the counterculture was busy being born in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the mid-1960s, Hammond Guthrie found himself in the midst of hipster heaven, somewhere between late Beat and early Hippie. A budding painter and writer, he quickly made friends with many of the musicians, poets, performance artists and street people who were blazing trails into new lifestyles.

Realizing that life was meant to be a total trip, a non-stop adventure, he left the West Coast with his wife for England and immersed himself in the alternative scene in London – the world of International Times, the UFO Club, Arts Lab, inner-city squats – with a writing gig at Time Out magazine.

Moving on to Amsterdam, he befriended Provos and free-living bohemians, while building a promising career in the art world – the Stedelijk Museum even bought his paintings for their collection. But in the early 1970s the trip took a surreal turn. His wife started taking free love far too literally, and her amorous escapade with a drug dealer entangled them both in a nerve-racking intrigue in the twilight zone of Tangier. Hammond’s Moroccan mission was to spring five Americans, including his wife’s lover, from 60-year prison sentences for wholesale hashish smuggling.

Here he tells it all in his playful style, with a keen eye for absurd detail and an unflagging sense of humor. Among the hundreds of famous and not-so-famous personalities he encountered along the way were the Buffalo Springfield, Del Close, Max Crosley, Richie Havens, Nico, Carmen McCrea, Allen Ginsberg, John “Hoppy” Hopkins, William Burroughs, Simon Vinkenoog, Kenneth Alsop, Pete Townshend, and Emmet Grogan.

First published in 2002 by SAF Publishing (when it received enthusiastic reviews), this second, revised edition of As Ever Was offers a fresh chance for readers to delve into the extraordinary world of Hammond Guthrie.

A painter and widely published writer, Hammond Guthrie is also a frequent contributor to Empty Mirror.