Dream Weaver, a memoir by Fred Keogh, tells of the author's experience of growing up in the cultural explosion of the 1960's, and how it led to a hitchhiking adventure that exposed the naive idealism, magic and genius that this era spawned. The account begins on the East coast with the wonders and miracles of the psychedelic revolution, where telepathic communication, out-of-body experiences, and visions of utopia lifted the young towards a higher consciousness. It then wades through the corruption and criminality of the emerging drug culture, which the author eventually flees for the freedom of the road during the greatest, and last, era of hitchhiking. In the tradition of an odyssey, this journey is undertaken to find a place, a home where the dreams of his generation might be actualized, and becomes an exposition of the myths and realities of America itself. Throughout a period of over a year, the fantastic, the pragmatic, and the humorous arise as every car, each new ride, enfolds the author in its own particular story. There are dark tales of alien invaders, sparks of inexplicable clairvoyance and magic, dreams of salvation and glory, and lives told of hard work and progress, words and events that arise from the background of deserts and mountains and plains, landscapes that play their own role and exact their own toll. It is a story of an era not long gone, but gone forever, living now in the memories of the vast and aging baby boom generation. The many tales, the serious, the comedic, and the strange alike, are tied by the author to contemporary political, social, and spiritual issues. His unique perspective, aided by a background in anthropology, gives the reader a sense of what was happening on the ground in the not-too-distant past, and a glimpse at the undercurrents that may surface in the no-too-distant future.
About the Author: Fred Keogh intended to become a lawyer or a chemist until the experience of the 1960's led him on an alternative route. He later earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology after two years of fieldwork with South American Indians. Keogh now lives in Wisconsin with his wife and son where he minds a small farm, takes walks with his one-eyed dog, and writes.