The Death of Timothy Leary

Timothy Leary
1920 - 1996
"Turn on, Tune in, Drop out."

This guy was as trippy as they get. A very unusual man, down to the very last minute of his life, when he wanted to broadcast his death over the internet, and have his ashes blasted out into space.

I had the opportunity to meet him once. I was working in a theater in Detroit, and Leary was doing a tour as a "stand up philosopher." Before they booked him, my bosses asked me if I would pay to see him. Not having the vaguest idea who he was (this was 1980, and I was only 17), I bluffed it because he was mentioned in Hair, and I’d heard of him. Anyway, they booked it, and only about a dozen people even showed up.

Before the show, I was taking tickets at the box office, and a gentleman came in. I asked for his ticket, and was swiftly kicked by a co-worker, who hissed, "That’s Hiiiiiiiim!" Whoops. Anyway, he was nice, and I showed him to the dressing room. I also will add that he requested David Bowie music to be playing at the time. I don’t know why he didn’t have his own, but I had to borrow my sisters Ziggy Stardust tape, and bring it in with me that day.

I sat in the back of the theatre while he had a slide show of certain drugs he and his wife would take on occasion. Personally, I thought he was out of his mind. But then this guy who was in the audience, approached the stage. Leary was nervous – as the guy looked nuts. Big overcoat, long hair, sunglasses and walking unsteadily. He handed Leary a gift. When Leary questioned what it was, he replied, "A bottle with a hole blown in the side." Leary was amused, and accepted it graciously.

After the show, I went backstage, and being the ever fame hag I am, I asked him to sign my poster for the event, which he did. The end. That’s my Timothy Leary story. I should add that Leary’s lecture made the front pages of the local papers the next day. Too bad he couldn’t get the publicity beforehand.

Leary lived in Benedict Canyon, in a modest ranch style home. Wanna see his mailbox? Course you do. In 1995, he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. I was speaking to Rocky Horror actor Barry Bostwick a couple of weeks ago. As I do. He had prostate cancer, and was cured. However, he still goes in for checkups all the time, and could not emphasize enough – the importance of getting checked. Especially men in their early 40’s. So take it from Brad, do it guys.

Timothy’s god daughter was shoplifter Winona Ryder. She supposedly moved in with him a couple of weeks before he died. It is said that she loved him deeply, and the two were very close.

On May 31, 1996 - Leary was in bed, and he suddenly sat up and asked, "Why not? Why not? Why not? It was 12:44am, and the 75 year old died. About 20 friends, his stepson Zach, and his ex-wife Rosemary Woodruff Leary were with him. Timothy made sure that the entire event was videotaped.

The informant was Donna Scott – Leary's executrix. I love that word. Hi, I’m Trixie, the executrix.

Upon hearing of his death, known jerk Art Linkletter said, "You could only call it ‘what goes around, comes around.’ Yeah, Leary really got what was coming to him. He celebrated life, lived to a healthy age, and was supposedly a great guy to hang around with. Art however, is a bitter twisted man, who wants to dictate how the world should behave. I'm really sorry his daughter jumped out the window - but she didn't do it while she was high. When Linkletter found that out, he decided it was an acid flashback that made her jump. Psh.

Two days before Timothy died, he was approved for his final trip. A portion of his ashes would be shot into space, orbit the earth, then burn up upon reentry of the earths atmosphere. Findadeath.com friend Roger Sinclair provided me with this exclusive photograph of Leary’s tiny urn. I don’t know what happened to the rest of him. The space thing cost him $4,800 – and you too can have the same fun – if you go here.

Trivia: Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had his ashes go out on the same flight.

Trivia: How about those noisy neighbors?! Sharon Tate lived just above the cul de sac (cul means ass in Italian – and cul de sac means ass end of the street)

Trivia: Molly Ringwald hates Winona Ryder. She claims Winona robbed her of her career. Personally, when I met Molly, I thought she was a skank.

Added March 6 2002: Rosemary Woodruff Leary, third wife of counterculture icon Timothy Leary, died Thursday February 7, 2002 of congestive heart failure. She was 66.

She met Timothy Leary at an art exhibition opening in New York City in 1965. She was working as a model at the time.

The couple married in 1967, and were arrested repeatedly for marijuana possession.

Timothy Leary was sent to a state prison in San Luis Obispo County in 1970, but his wife and others helped him escape. The two fled the country to Algeria, then to Switzerland.

They separated in 1971, and two years later Timothy Leary was caught trying to enter Afghanistan and was returned to the United States. He was released from prison in 1976, the year the two divorced.

Rosemary Leary stayed underground, living in Afghanistan, Sicily and Central and South America. She sneaked back into the United States in 1980 and lived under the name Sarah Woodruff.

In 1993, she had her record cleared of fugitive charges.

She wrote free-lance articles and managed the trust that administered her ex-husband's copyrights and archives. She also lectured college students about the psychedelic era.

Timothy Leary died in 1996. Rosemary Leary was working on a final draft of her memoirs when she died.

MORE October 2002 from Findadeath.com friend John Stamey: I didn't see this info anywhere on your Leary page, but he was busted for drugs by an assistant DA named G. Gordon Liddy. Apparently they became "friendly" and toured together for a while having debates about drugs and politics. Also, one of Leary's drug cases was where the Supreme Court declared the Marijuana Tax law unconstitutional.

Leary's case was a Federal beef because he was busted for failing to pay the $100 an ounce tax on weed. This tax was enacted in the 1930s; before that dope was largely ignored and generally legal. Legend has it Abraham Lincoln smoked hash for headaches, which may have prompted his (apocryphal) comment "I freed the WHAT?" the day after he signed the Emancipation Proclaimation.

Until the Supreme Court held Leary's position on the Marijuana Tax correct - that it amounted to self-incrimination and was a violation of the 5th Amendment - pharmacies had to display a current Marijuana Tax certificate. It's also been claimed that Hearst and DuPont both wanted to eradicate hemp cultivation in the US so the Hearst interests in wood-pulp paper and DuPont's artifical fabrics would be more profitable. The Declaration of Independence is printed on hemp paper and "canvas" is a corruption of the word "cannabis".