In the spring of 1969 every kids Tarzan and Jane

dream of tree houses on a tropical beach came

true at Kauais Taylor Camp, a clothing-optional,

grow-your-own community of hippies governed

Taylor Camp
only by vibes. There were no rules; nothing to sign

as you walked into camp. There were no elections;

it wasnt a democracy. These refugees from the

straight world built their homes with the same

Sent to Hawaii by the Sierra Club in 1969, John
materials as poor Third World squatters throughout
Wehrheim did a series of articles entitled Paradise
the tropicsbamboo, scrap lumber, rough logs and
Lost and then never went back to the mainland.
branches, salvaged tin roofing, plastic sheeting and
He began photographing Taylor Camp in 1971; then
screens, flimsy mosquito netting, and cheap printed
in 1975, after two years living with both refugees
fabric. Guided by the spirit of whimsical creativity,
and villagers in Asia, John began to seriously
this refugee camp followed the aesthetic principle
document this tree house community, seeing it as
that drives the most humble builders: no form
both a traditional village and refugee settlementa
without function, a natural perfection, order
hippie refugee camp next to a crystalline stream in
without rules. This story, in photos, maps, news clips
a tropical forest along a beach in paradise.
and oral history reveals an experiment in benign

Photographer, writer and filmmaker, John lives anarchy, a community of young people from across
In 1969, Howard Taylor, brother of actress Elizabeth, bailed out a rag-tag band of thirteen young Mainlanders jailed on

John Wehrheim
on Kauai with his wife JoAnn Yukimura and their the country and the world that came together and

daughter Maile. His most recent film is also titled Kauai for vagrancy and invited them to camp on his oceanfront land. Soon waves of hippies, surfers and troubled tried to live by the unwritten ideals of the 60s.

TAYLOR CAMP.
Vietnam vets found their way to Taylor Camp and built a clothing-optional, pot-friendly tree house village at the end

of the road on the islands north shore. In 1977, after condemning the village to make way for a State park, government

officials torched the campleaving little but ashes and memories of the best days of our lives.
Taylor Camp
Powerfully evocative photos from the seventies reveal a community that rejected consumerism for the healing

power of nature while the story of Taylor Camps seven-year existence is documented

Printed in China
through interviews made thirty years later with the campers, their neighbors and

the Kauai officials who finally got rid of them.

TaylorCamp_Jacket.indd 1 10/16/09 5:33:38 PM

 Taylor Camp
John Wehrheim
Serindia Contemporary, Chicago

2-3 10/19/09 10:07:00 AM

 Introduction
Rising on the stone terraces of an ancient Hawaiian village We threw the baby out with the bathwater.
at the western mouth of Limahuli Stream, the tree house It was all over as soon as the counter-culture idealism
community of Taylor Camp may not have heralded the Age and art of the sixties was packaged and marketed as a
of Aquarius, but many of Kauais young visitors in the late billion-dollar entertainment industry and our heroes and
sixties and seventies, baby boom generation-gappers from idols changed from barefoot gurus with begging bowls
One should be guided only by nature around the globe, remember Taylor Camp as the best days and chillums to rock stars in limousines chugging Dom
and no other rules. of our lives. Rejecting the values of their parents, then re- Perignon and hoovering coke. In 1969, when the original

Rembrandt structuring them with long hair, marijuana and a vegetar- campers, thirteen men women and children, were arrested
ian clothing-optional lifestyle, the flower-power campers and sentenced to ninety days hard labor because they had
developed a whimsical experiment in living ostensibly sup- no money, the prison population on Kauai consisted of one
ported with the back-to-the-land ethos of fishing and farm- old Filipino man who had nowhere else to live. Now Kauais
ing (while actually propped up with food stamps and wel- new jail is packed to more than twice its design capacity
fare). The camp soon took on some attributes of the lives the and the area at the end of the road that was once Taylor
campers left behind. They formed a food co-op, enacted zon- Camp crawls with tourists rental cars, unspeakably filthy
ing and building guidelines, built a public water system with toilets and wind-blown trash.
communal toilet and sauna, and excavated a landfill. They As Paul Theroux (who gave me the concept for this book)
secured stops on the county school bus and garbage truck wrote at the end of Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Most of
routes, recruited a mid-wife and a Vietnam medic, estab- the world is worsening, shrinking to a ball of bungled deso-
lished several churches and formed a de facto government lation. Only the old can see how gracelessly the world is
with unwritten codes enforced by common consent, power aging and all that we have lost Is there hope? Yes. In this
politics and vibes. But Taylor Camp wasnt a commune. It case, the hope consists of telling the story of Taylor Camp
had no guru, no clearly defined leadership and never had a before its completely forgotten. Admittedly, there are
single voice. It had no written ordinances. It wasnt a democ- many interpretations of history, some of them true and all
racy. It was much more than that. A spirit that brought forth of them incomplete and oversimplified. That understood,
order without rules guided the community. heres the history of the Taylor Campersthe unwitting
The sixties youth culture of Taylor Camp represented the shock troops of Kauais cultural invasion.
emerging environmental movement, the civil rights movement, Taylor Camp started in the spring of 1969 when Howard
the peace movement and, supposedly, a great awakening in Taylor, brother of actress Elizabeth, bailed out a rag-tag
American consciousness. But look at where we are now band of young mainlanders jailed for vagrancysome

6-1 10/19/09 10:07:01 AM

 Notes on the Map
Former Taylor Camp resident, now Big Island artist, Patricia Every neighborhood has its better section; its prime real
Leo, originally created this map in 1976. A snapshot of the estate. Taylor Camp was no exception. Like ocean communi-
village in its last years, the map captures the time that I ties everywhere, beachfront was prime. So lets enter from
made the photographs in this book. The authenticity of the ocean as traditional voyagers, come in across the sand
Pats village map, combined with the historic record of the and start with the beachfront houses.
photos, gives us a minds-eye walking tour of Taylor Camp. Starting at the shore with the sun rising over the sea,
Pat drew the map Island style with the ocean to the all the landscape and exterior portrait photos follow the
bottom of the page and the top toward the mountains. same sequence as those images that include architectur-
Island people dont orient to north, south, east and west. al features of a particular structure, as numbered on the
Traditional Hawaiian directions are mauka [toward the map and legend. The buildings and other images proceed
mountains] and makai [toward the sea]. Directions around throughout the book in the numerical order of the map.
the ever-turning coastline are called out by the near- The photos include most but not all of the buildings in the
est landmarks up and down the coast, which for Taylor village. Those images that do not have an architectural ele-
Campers were Kee [west] and Haena [east]. The camps ment bracket and relate to the order of the architectural
beachfront houses faced due north looking out over the photos by appearing before or after the closest buildings
ocean so Pats map has north [makai] to the bottom and in the sequence.
south [mauka] to the top. The due north exposure to the
towering cumulous clouds marching across the oceans
horizon, combined with sun filtered through a high for-
est canopy then diffused with translucent plastic roofing
and walls, gave the whole of Taylor Camp perfect lighting
for photography.

Fold out map

9

8-9 10/19/09 10:07:06 AM

 Limahuli Morning
My family sailed over from Oahu in August of 1968. That first morning we
came down here in an old Valiant station wagon. We looked around and
ate our lunch on one of the flat rocks that are still over there by the stream.
My parents fell in love with this place, went back to our house on Oahu
and sold that place. They sold the boat, sold the house, sold everything and
moved to Kauai.

Tommy Taylor

Limahuli Stream sunrise

10 11

10-11 10/19/09 10:07:10 AM

 Kailio Point, Haena Limahuli Valley and Mount Makana

12 13

12-13 10/19/09 10:07:17 AM

 Richie and Diane in the living room Diane upstairs in the bedroom

18 19

18-19 10/19/09 10:07:36 AM

 Diane Striegle
We purchased an old Kilauea plantation camp house that was going to be
torn down and with that lumber, we built our tree house in Taylor Camp.
It cost us $100 to tear the plantation house down and if you cleaned the
whole lot, they would give you $50 back. So, we had a nice home made of tin,
glass, wood siding, a little bit of plastic, nice floor boards. The floor was the
old Hanalei bridge deck, real thick timbers, and the house was built in the
ironwood trees right up by the beach in front of Taylor Camp.

Diane (Striegle) Daniels

Dianes house

22 23

22-23 10/19/09 10:07:47 AM

 Some people around Camp
We were all searching for something that wasnt quite what our families were of-
fering, even though we had so much in America. We were still looking for some-
thing different and we were very lucky because we found it. Taylor Camp is a rip-
ple in the water of our lives still reverberating with what we found there. It was
a wild serendipity experience and were still here, thirty-five years later. I came all
the way from Miami, Florida. A lot of the people came from California and New
York, some from Canada and Europe and we all were just satellited into Taylor
Camp a lot of different people from different places. It was just a constant bar-
rage of experiences and none of it was TV. It was all real.

Cherry Hamilton

Cherry

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28-29 10/19/09 10:08:01 AM

 The Big House
Richard and Doug built the Big House and then left for India. They built it
to be a party house. It was seventy-five feet across. I moved into Dougs
room and Teri moved upstairs. We had an empty bedroom in the front and a
fourth bedroom, which Teri and I promptly painted lavender and called the
yoga room. So now we had an empty room and that was an issue. Not only
are you hogging the house, but you have an empty room which you call your
yoga room and an empty bedroom. Then we put a door on the house, which
raised a lot of contention with a lot of people. We were kind of loud and kind
of activeproactive organizers. The party house wasnt supposed to have
a door. It slammed and banged all night long. I attributed that to the night-
walkersHawaiian ghosts. I said to Teri, Do you think we should take the
door off the house, it doesnt seem like the house wants the door. No! she
said, we are leaving the door on. She did not want just anybody coming in.
It was one of the unwritten rules of the camp but we did not like people sit-
ting naked on our furniture. There were scabies and crabs and all that stuff
and we did not want people just popping over and just planting themselves
uninvited. We were a little different than what was going on there.

Debi Green

Dana and Karma at the door of the Big House

36 37

36-37 10/19/09 10:08:23 AM

 Teri and Rosey Roger and Debi

40 41

40-41 10/19/09 10:08:37 AM

 Jesse below Pat n Andys house with Emees house behind Andy and Pat

68 69

68-69 10/19/09 10:09:49 AM

 Minka and Alpin in their room

Alpin and Minka at the door

to their room

78 79

78-79 10/19/09 10:10:17 AM

 Buffalo Bills loft above John
and Maries house Buffalo Bill

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 Jeannies sunset dance Bok, Jeannie and Gary

148 149

148-149 10/19/09 10:13:34 AM

 Limahuli Stream sunset Hawk, Cherry and Moses

150 151

150-151 10/19/09 10:13:41 AM

 Interviews
Ernest Renan, the nineteenth century French philosopher, believed that people are bound
not by their real past but by the stories they tell themselves: by what they remember and
what they forget. Though filtered through the politics of small town papers, the headlines on
the opposite page bring the past into sharp focus and it may seem that little has changed.
But the following interviews reveal a significant change in lifes path for many of the folks
who found their way to Taylor Camp. They tell of much simpler times on Kauais North Shore,
before TV and tourism, when dogs slept on the main highway and a small band of hippies
established a community that rejected consumerism for the healing power of nature. These
always frank and often humorous storiessome filled with painful memoriespay homage
to a past that continues to live through their days.

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152-153 10/19/09 10:13:52 AM

 Sondra Schaub, Carol another young hippie couple appeared at the Hanalei
Pavilion with an infant.
Carol Ford: Thats when we met Sandy and VicNovember

& Webb Ford, John Becker of 68. We also knew John Kai. He was the sweetest man
and let us stay at the pavilion. There wasnt any other
Victor Schaub, the founding father of Taylor Camp, drowned on Kauai in 2004 saving his grandchil- place to stay. All the white people, the haoles back then,

dren off the coast of Anahola. Victor had been Mayor of Arcata California from 1990 to 1995. His wife were either surfers or rich. We were neither and so even the
haoles thought, Who are these people? So finding work
Sondra, a mediator and educator, flew down from Northern California to join us for lunch at Carol and
and housing was hard and we didnt have much money. Carol
Webbs home in Vista, a shady Southern California suburb of wide streets and solid ranch houses. John
We werent interested in any kind of standard lifestyle. We
drove over from San Diego. Webb and John are building contractors and Carol a project manager. were dropping out of mainland society because we were
searching for something better. the torrential winter rains. Wed be in bed by dusk, lying in
Sondra Schaub: I arrived on Kauai from Berkeley with my We hooked up with Vic and Sandy because they didnt bed listening to the rain pounding the tin roof and all the
husband Victor and our three-year-old daughter Heidi in have much money either. We were surviving together. rats and huge cane spiders racing over the ceiling. That was
August 1968. We were involved in the anti-war movement Sondra: Carol and Webb got this little shack near us up Ha- it. That was what you did. So we felt very protected and very
and Berkeley was ready to explode. It was either pick up a nalei Valley. After we got kicked out of our shack, they took rich because we had a roof over our heads.
gun or leave. So we decided to leave for Europe and went, us in during the bad weatherHeidi, Victor and myself. It Webb Ford: John Kai was a very kind man. The horizontal
Oh what the heck, weve never been to Hawaii; well just was like a big tenta one-room tin roof tent. rain and wind came off Hanalei Bay, our poles snapped and
go to Hawaii and on to Asia and Europe. We had no idea Carol: It was two by fours on a platform holding up a tin boom our tent was gone. They had a little storage room at
what we were doing. roofjust a roof, sides and a floorno electricity, a sink but the pavilion with a concrete floor and with Carol pregnant,
We landed in Lihue. A surfer said we should go to the no running water. But we all stayed in the shack through John Kai let us sleep on the floor on his roll-up mattress.
Sondra
North Shore and gave us a ride to Hanalei Beach Park where Then we moved into the shack near Vic and Sondras and
we pitched our tent. There we met John Kai, the park care- met them walking out of the valley. Then they got kicked
taker, a beautiful old Hawaiian man who befriended us. our tickets to Kauai. Now the thought of Europe just sort of out and moved in with us. Then we got kicked out. Then
It was a solid month of rain with heavy wind. We had a disappeared. We were dealing with day-to-day living, deal- they got a 54 Ford station wagon. We didnt have wheels;
funky little tent that couldnt handle the storms. So we ing with the elements and trying to figure out what to do they had wheels. So we decided, Lets pool what weve
huddled up, shivering in the park pavilion, and John Kai had and where to go with a three-year-old child. got. We found out that we could get a month-to-month
a friend with an empty shack up the valleya tin roof shack There werent a lot of white people on the island. Hana- camping permit to pitch tents in the beach parks like the
without walls. That was the beginningthat little shack lei was only Ching Young Store, a laundromat, an opium locals did. We set up at Lydgate Park on the East Side, since
two miles away from any place. We didnt know why we den, a post office and a liquor store. So we were really in it was drier there than the North Shore, and thats when
were there. Victor was in his third year at UC Berkeley Law an isolated third world country. The weather was horrible, Webb our problems began. Thats where we first heard the word
School and we had a student loan and thats how we got terriblenothing but days of rain, storm, and wind. Then haole used like a swear word.

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 Mayor Eduardo Malapit in there and people started to complain about Taylor Camp.
They told me that those people are dirty in Taylor Camp
so I talked to the state and they said they didnt have any
time for Taylor Camp. So I talked to the county police and
lots of fleas. They had dogs. They were defecating all over the Engineering Department and we closed down Taylor
Eduardo Malapit, former Mayor of Kauai, invited us to his new house in a recently built retirement
the place. The guys fishing, they did not go there because it Camp. These homes were not homes. You need building
community on the outskirts of Puhi, Kauai. He controlled the interview from his easy chair like the
was not clean. So I went to visit the place, it looked okay but permits. Even if you are going to put up a tent you need a
savvy politician and island boss that he was, providing candid and politically incorrect answers to little bit dirty. I did not see any fleas, but its a real homeless permit. Taylor Camp didnt have any permits.
questions we hadnt asked. I was surprised and delighted when he graciously agreed to be interviewed. place. I do not know if Taylor himself went there, because The key to the whole thing is, I am a plantation boy and

Former Mayor Malapit and my wife, former Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, had been bitter political rivals on Taylor he is a real nice man, good looking guy. I think that I made life good on Kauai. I did what I wanted
People just did not like Taylor Camp, because it was dif- to do and I did it. That is the difference between the politi-
this small island. But she is a Stanford alumnus and Mayor Malapit and I both graduated from Notre
ferent. Like you have homeless in Honolulu living on the cians and meall they do is talk, talk.
Dame, so I think he gave me the benefit of the doubt.
beachthat was Taylor Camp. We did not have homeless What about your brother Bill? Didnt he live at Taylor
people because you lived on Kauai, you always had a shack Camp?
I was Mayor of Kauai from 1974 to 1982. Lot of changes, all and water, and you could always eat. I do not know why William Malapit*, no he was not there in Taylor Camp.
good. Before that, I was on the county council, and before they stayed in Taylor Camp, maybe because it was free. But he wasnt really my brother. Early one morning, one old
that I was the prosecutor when the first hippies came. They Some of them had cars but quite a few were hitchhiking, man came to our house and brought this baby, it was Wil-
started hitchhiking and they started to camp here and and I think we passed a law against hitchhiking. I do not liam. Because the mother and the father were fighting, the
there, sleep down at the beach. That was the beginning of think the local people were afraid of the campers, but peo- old man brought the baby to our house. When the fight
it all. We had a plantation economy at that time then the ple living near Taylor Camp started to lock the door. I do not stopped, the mother ran away. So my mother took him
plantations closed down, so when I was a council member know what that means. home to stay with us. She started to take care of the baby.
they opened up Princeville. When I became Mayor I began I got complaints about Taylor Camp. People just did not Then my father adopted him. I was about maybe kinder-
to build up the economy, build up hotelsthat is where like hippies. They werent wearing clothes and they were garten, first grade. The last time I saw William was about
JoAnn and I disagreed. All she wanted was farming. But we planting marijuana all over the place. They were throwing five or ten years ago on Maui. He washes dishes some-
needed hotels, we needed jobs, we needed homes. marijuana seeds in the river, then the marijuana would be place there.
Then you had Taylor Camp. They liked the name Taylor At that time Taylor let the hippies stay in Taylor Camp, growing on the side. I did not like it too. I did a big mari-
Camp because that was Elizabeth Taylors brother. One day which was okay but when you know Hanalei and Haena juana plan with the police department; it was getting quite
the hippies went to the pineapple fields and filled their back then, everybody was everybodys friend. Nobody big back then. But I closed it up, not because of marijuana
truck with pineapples and the cops caught them. Two of locked the door. You had a party, you did not send out in- that was already on going before they got herebut it
them were Elizabeth Taylors boys. The cops caught them vitations, you just talked, and everybody came. Then Taylor was dirty, it was filthy. They did not have any bathrooms.
and then they let them out, but they were under surveil- Campers started taking the large bamboos to make their People stopped going at the end of the road to swim. It
lance. So I wrote to Elizabeth Taylor, I told her to come to homes. They started taking coconuts and the leaves to hurt the tourist economy. Sugar plantations was closing so
Kauai. She never did come but she sent her two boys back make hats. They started picking the fruit. On the way to the we needed a new economy and we needed hotels. Taylor
to the mainland. end of the road there is a little stream, they used to bathe Camp did not help anything with that. It was on state land * See pages 60 and 61 for photos of Bill Kung Fu Malapit

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 D. Keakealani Ham Young screwed up everything. They started doing it right there
and leaving their shit and wed see it just like that. I was a
he had to put lumber together to build them a shack. He
would feed them too. It was pretty cool. I was maybe about
young kida real hyper guy. I never really liked seeing this sixteen, now I am fifty-four, so it was quite a while ago.
D. K. Ham Youngmusician, landscaper and luau chefhas gone by the name of Bobo since small
ugliness come. On Saturday nights wed to go to the Anchorage bar after
kid time. But there can be only one Bobo in this story and that will be the haole wahine from Taylor
As time went on, the violence got worse and worse; we workour whole clan, uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandpa.
Camp that youll hear about in the next interview. So we will refer to this Bobo, who had a reputation started getting arrested because they go and press charge. There was good music, dancing music. All these hippies
as a local tough guy and all around hell-raiser back in the day, as son of Cathy Ham Young and grand- Us local guys, we really do not believe in pressing charges; came and started taking over the dance floor. And then the

son of Tai Hook. He is now highly respected in the community for his knowledge of culture and history. you take care of the problem right then and there and ev- fights picking up. Because they never smelled real good. You
erything is fine. But they like bring the system inside, the know all the bumping and shoving and tonk you going to
After weeks of chasing, we finally found him early one morning in the back yard of his Haena home.
law, and that was hurting us young local guyswe never crack them already right on the dance floor.
had bad names before. Everybody worked together as oha- Rosey, he had a big mouth. We actually became friends
The Taylor family was really nice. Howard was my grand- na (family) and we survived through the land, worked do- about ten years ago. He came up to me. I kind of let old
dad Tai Hooks good friend. Tommy Taylor, he was one of the ing taro, fishing. But nighttimes come, you have a few beers things go by. He was a good baseball player and always
first haole that went to Kapaa High School and he had a and theres a hippie, and thats it. Knock the guy out and go used to come and see Dennis Wakumoto at the liquor store,
tough time too. But when we became friends, everything awayit was more vigilante style. because Dennis sponsored his baseball team. The Hanalei
was good. Tommy handled himself, he was not a pushover. The lasting effect for me was more fear in the mind. We boys they were pretty hard, and Rosey was their coach. They
We all hung out together. used to drink right out of Limahuli Stream and then the used to call him the mayor over there Taylor Camp. But at
Haena and Hanalei were pristine in those days. Lots of scare came on. That was the first time I heard of yellow that time a hippie was a hippie. I dont care what
fish and lots of everything. The onslaught started in the jaundice, hepatitis. And we started getting sick like when So this one night I was dancing with my sister-in-law
seventiesa long time ago. The first wave of hippies its the first haole came, Captain Cook and them. Unless you and Rosey kept on bumping into her dancing wild. He
okay to say hippies huh? these flower kind guys, peace are way up in the valley you cannot drink from the stream was not bumping me but he kept running into her, acting
and love and all that; that first group of people were okay, anymore. It was so scary jumping in the pond. You know like it was his dance floor. My sister-in-law is really small,
they took care of themselves, they took care of the aina You cannot talk to them because they have fresh mouth; nature kind of cleanses itself but yet you do not really trust not that big a girl. If she was a tita,* 300 pounds, that tita
(land) and they were clean. They were going naked but that they know everything, more than us guys living here all our nature anymore. Even our spring water, way past the Wick- would have pounded Rosey. The first time I go, Hey Brah,
never bother us guys; and long hair, we never mind because lives. That really sparked a lot of discrimination. This is our mans, we used to drink from there, and all the local people take it easy; just dance around us. No need bump us. But
we had long hair too. So we left them alone. We didnt want island; they forgetting about the local people. Id see a hip- used to go up there. Then all the hippie crowd started get- Rosey, he never stop, hes dancing wild and hits my sister-
them, but we never bothered them. pie on the side of the road and Id have violent reactions. ting their drinking water there. And we stayed away be- in-law again and she fell into me, and I went, Hey pal, take
Then a new wave started comingpeople you could tell Theyd make my mind sick. We started seeing disease, dis- cause the hippies are there, you know once they are there it it easy. Well, what? He was kind of fast mouth, a little bit
from a distance were not clean. They did not have the mind- eases we never had before, we never had polluted waters. is polluted that was our mindset. too fast on his mouth kind of guy. So I went, Okay, just
set for the beauty of this place. Wed see piles of rubbish. We did not want to jump in the Limahuli Stream anymore, My grand dad, Tai Hook, really took care of the first crew of take it easy, we are having fun over here, no need whack
We used hassle themkind of abusive. The mana (spirit) where we used to go down as kids and play. The first group hippies. They started farming taro with usthey were real- my sister-in-law. Then it happened a third time and I am
was gone, the aloha (love) was gonewe were mad inside. of people was sanitary; theyd dig a hole. The next wave ly helpful. Grandpa gave them a place to stay, even though * Hawaiian pidgin for a very large and tough sister.

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 Hawk Hamilton the big American dream, but really it was wonderful deep
giant breath of life.
up and grabbed a staple gun. In the dim light I raised the
staple gun, waving around like it was a pistol, I got a gun
We lived there a long timealmost seven years. At first, here, get the fuck out of here! and sure enough the guy
Hawk greeted us at his Ohana Plant Nursery in Kilauea, Kauai holding a bottle of beer. Throughout the
the kids didnt go to school, but when Minka and then Alpin disappeared.
interview he sipped and waved the bottle in the air to accent his stories, like a conductor with a baton.
came of school age, we started sending them to Hanalei Another night, a shadowy figure walked towards me in
I was fleeing the law. I had a phony name. Id been in trouble in Puerto Rico! began the overture. School. Nick Beck was the Principle and I got to be friends the dark. People were yelling. I grabbed a fallen tree limb
with him, he was a really strong open minded person, a re- and called out to the silhouette, Hey braddah, I have a club,
I had a lot of personalities when I was young. Had a lot of ally neat guy. At first the school bus only went to Haena dont come any closer. He kept coming. I smacked him over
different names. When I was about eleven or twelve Hawk but Nick sent it down to Taylor Camp to pick up our kids. the head and the limb broke in half. He went to the ground.
Hamilton stuck on, at that time I had five or six different Taylor Camp was pretty innocent but there was a rough I jumped on him and I got my elbow in his eye socket to
names. After a while I would not even recognize my real element. We had to be on the ballkind of protective. We control him. Then Bobo came running up with her flash-
name Brad and would not answer to it so my mom fi- called it the End of the Road, the Wild Wild West and light, Oh Hawk, it is Jeff Paine, my good friend, oh poor Jeff.
nally called me Hawk, too. Because I was in trouble with bad things happened there occasionally. My wife would often save the rip-offs coming to hurt us.
probation, they made me take the Minnesota Personal- One time I found a dead man in a carRound House They were her drinking buddies.
ity Evaluation Test, and they told me I was schizophrenic, John. The police came to investigate. One of the cops was We had the smack shack where the bad boys lived. One of
had psychotic deviations, same time they said you seem my friend, Officer Joe Kaauwai, a neat Hawaiian man, a the guys was named Roger the Dodger, great nickname.
to be really aware of different facets of your personality. beautiful man. Round House Johns shirt and belt were The other guy was Smiley, an ironic name. They were the
I said I am. bunched six inches above his pants like a big grip handle. bad boys. We kind of allowed them to be there, then got
Im from Ocean Beach near San Diegoa surfing ghetto. with our two kids, Minka and Alpin By the time we got to Obviously someone had carried him to the car and I men- rid of them a year or two later. Taylor Camp had all kinds of
There were military bases nearby and we considered the Kauai, my wife, Bobo, and I were being low key, hiding out tioned it to the police. They were going, He died here; looks people, but basically sweet people.
military our enemy. They were the only people we would from straight society with our kids. When we got to Kauai like overdosed. And I go, Died here? Look at his belt, some- Officer Joe Kaauwai was a beautiful man. He would
steal from. Wed rip em off, beat em, rob em and I finally I felt, Wow! This doesnt feel like America. This is another one carried him here! And Joe Kaauwai took me to the side come and visit us in uniform sometimes. Hed stand ten or
got busted. Got six months in jail. When I got out of jail I place and time. There was only one traffic light and it was and said, Hawk, dont do this; were taking care of it. They twenty feet from my house and call out, Hey Hawk, this
moved to La Jolla and met Bobo. I was eighteen and she in some cane field on the other side of the island. It was so wanted to make it simple. This was the Wild Wild West, a is Officer Kaauwai, Joe Kaauwai. Ill wait out here till you
was fifteen. She was my best friend and could do anything mellow, so quiet and sweet and innocent with incredible place where people could come and do bad things. get things straightened up. Hed sit outside while we got
a boy could do. I could surf with her, I could dive with her. diving, incredible surf, it was perfect. It felt like a safe ha- Another time, some guys came into Taylor Camp late at rid of the joints and ashtrays. Then Joe would come in and
I loved her. Then she got pregnant and we got married in ven, it felt like home. It was sweet and we lived there a long night; we were all asleep. All of a sudden, right outside my visit. He knew we smoked pot but he didnt want to see it.
Las Vegas. time. Wed fled the straight world. window a local guy says, Hey braddah! I could see the twin He was a kind, sweet soul, giant of a man, 250 pounds and
A couple of years later we got busted, fled to Puerto Rico I got food stamps and I laid a net to catch fish for a living barrels of his shotgun stuck right up against the screen, gentle as a teddy bear. But Joe had plenty of respect from
and then I got busted there. The cops were lying and it and I gardened, I did not do very much except enjoy. It was Hey braddah, you got any drugs Foolishly, I dropped to the tough guys too, the local bad boys. I always knew he
looked like six or seven years in a Puerto Rican prison for really wonderful, we were not acquisitive, I was not ambi- the ground and grabbed a big pillow, put the pillow in front was some kind of a hero. When I read his obituary, I learned
me so we were on the run again and headed to Hawaii tious and perhaps it hurt me not to go around hustling for of me as if it would protect me from a gun; then stood he had been a big football star at Northwestern University.

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 Suzanne Bobo Bollin knew clearly what was going on. We had vets in camp. They
had come back and they were damaged. You could tell the
trying to make a family again, trying to work on our mar-
riage but it wouldnt work; I would get discouraged. When
difference between the guys that had served and the guys we got married, I was sixteen and Hawk was nineteen. How
Everyone gathered around the picnic tables at the old Taylor Camp site as we conducted interviews
that hadnt. The guys that hadnt been to Vietnam could could we blame each other for our marriage falling apart?
off to the side, out of earshot. Those waiting to be interviewed talked about what they should and
still smile and the guys that had, we had to teach them We were children. So Hawk and I lived in the same house
shouldnt talk about. Some were worried and urged everyone to downplay the drugs, sex and nudity. how to smile again. at Taylor Camp. I had my own bedroom and I had my boy-
Bobo said nothing. When it was her turn, she walked over to the clearing where we had the camera set The Hawaiian people, the local people, were accepting friends and he had his own bedroom and he had his girl-

up and took off her clothes. I cant do an interview about Taylor Camp with my clothes on. It wouldnt of us in certain ways. I mean they hated Taylor Camp. They friends and we shared the house because we wanted to live
thought we were all crazy and they thought we were all on with our children. Then Hawk met Cherry and she was the
be honest! Shes a sales clerk at Hanalei Surf Company.
drugs and they thought we were all running around na- sweetest young thing. Cherry asked my permission to be
ked, having sex constantly. But some of them understood with Hawk and I said, Well sure, thats wonderful. Thats a
I was one of the first people to show up at Taylor Camp with us and I think they admired uswhat we were doing. The lot more respectful than a lot of girls would be. Then Cherry
kids. I left San Diego running from the police. I had been ar- postmistress Clorindathe FBI would go to the Hanalei got pregnant and we were all really looking forward to the
rested twice for smoking marijuana. When I got busted the post office and show her pictures of the draft dodgers birth of Moses.
third time, I jumped bail, I jumped probation, and I jumped and Clorinda would say, Oh no, I havent seen them, and When I look back on who I was then, I see myself as just
the state. They were going to take my girls and put them in then later those dodgers would walk in the post office and the camp drunk. I spent most of my time at Taylor Camp
foster homes. I was going to be put into prison for smoking she would say, They were looking for you. loadedpartying. I havent had a drink in eighteen years,
marijuana, so I ran and I hid and I changed my name. I think a lot of the local people were just afraid of us and but at that time I was dedicated to drinking, thats what
I was searching to find a place for my kids where we would that fear sometimes turns to hatred and violencebut I did. Anything I could do to show my disdain for society
be safe. I didnt want the influences of society, all that ma- its still surprising to me how accepting they were of my and societys rules. So I went about breaking all the rules
terialism, the influence of television on my children. At Tay- behavior. I would get drunk and pass out at night in the and shocking them and waking them up and so I did a lot
lor Camp I felt safe. I was surrounded by other people that middle of the highway and nobody would bother me. But of crazy things that werent socially acceptable. My whole
had the same goals as I did. We all wanted to get away from A lot of people were running when they got to Taylor today its not like that. When I got here it was all local peo- attitude was, This society is so fucked up, fuck them all. I
that crazy war, those crazy cops, that crazy society. I was sur- Camp. Some of them were draft dodgers hiding from the ple and now the North Shore is a haole (Caucasian) village. was very self-destructive.
rounded by people that loved me and loved my children. war. Some were Vietnam vets just hiding from the world. I could walk through Hanalei naked then and the local peo- I was way more crazy than anybody else at Taylor Camp,
One of the most amazing things about Taylor Camp was The Vietnam War disillusioned me about America. I thought ple wouldnt call the police. Nobody called the police on me so Im a little hesitant to talk about all this. I dont want
the large variety of people. We had people born at Taylor America was the most wonderful, beautiful place on earth, until Princeville got built, until a big haole community from people to think that everybody at Taylor Camp was like
Camp and we had Herbert, who was eighty years old. We had and then our government invaded a country and killed all the mainland moved over here, all these really rich people. me because they werent. They were much more peaceful,
local people living here and there were people with regular those people. We were all trying to get far away from the That was the first time the police got called on me. much more sane, much more family oriented and just re-
jobs and there were dope dealers. It was a giant variety of Vietnam War. We didnt have television. We didnt have I came to Taylor Camp by myself; I got off the plane in ally together. I feel like I was born to be an alcoholic; that I
people, all different walks of life, all different nationalities, all newspapers. We didnt want to see children blown up, chil- Lihue with just my daughter Alpin. We were here for a few was going to become alcoholic regardless of where I lived,
different religions. It was basically just like any community. dren firebombed. It was horrifying. We didnt need TV; we months before Hawk and Minka joined us. Hawk and I were but the Taylor Camp community was there for my children,

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 John Emee Erson healthy, more a place where you could raise a family. It was a
creative community. Anyways, back thenSwenson comes
The next morning I wake up, eat a tab of Orange Sunshine,
hit the trail and head for Hanakapiai and run into this Sw-
over to the Free Store. He says, Hey, Bobos in the valley. Her enson character. I just ate a hit of LSD, and he says, Hey,
Patricia and Andy Leo organized a reunion on the Big Islanda movable feast that spanned several
house is wide open. Youre welcome to stay there under a brother, hows it? and Im like, Dont brother me, man. You
days. Emees a partner in Dr. Drywall and a fiction writer on the Big Island. He came with his partner
mosquito net, and Im like, Cool, Im getting chewed alive. ripped me off, asshole. I dont want nothing to do with you.
Mike to the big gathering at Pat and Andys. We interviewed him under a huge avocado tree. I wasnt Thatd be way sweet. So I go to Bobos house and theres a Stay the fuck away from me. Anyway, Im in Hanakapiai.
called Emee when I got to camp. Amisi gave me the name. She had solar jets designed to mine this mattress and a mosquito net and Im under the mosquito The waves are perfect and Im in paradiseAlice in Won-

planet for platinum and diamonds so she could build an actual spaceship called Speedy Joy. net thinkin, Wow, this is sweet. The next morning Swen- derland. Im awestruck. I cant even say how beautiful, how
sons gone. He rifled through my pockets and stole the last gorgeous, how intense the vibe was. How beautiful it was.
Id already run away from home and I was living in canyons thirty-two bucks that I had to my name. Im totally broke Im body surfing and just laying in the sun and grooving on
and tack rooms up in Palos Verdes. I saw my friends Mike and he ripped off almost all the hash that he sold me but life and I notice this guy, Swenson, hes starting to make a
Buxton and Bob Putnam, and they say, Hey, were going he left me a bowl, and Im thinkin, Well, thats kind of cool, bunch of noise and hes screaming and hes yelling about
to Kauai. Were leaving tomorrow, and Im like, Wow, Im I guess. At least he left me a bowl. getting ripped off and shit and he comes after me and he
just spinning my wheels here. That sounds awesome! Hey, So, the next day Im thinking, well, Im headed for Na Pali. tells me I ripped him off for his silky aloha shirt, and Im
Ill meet you in one week on Kauai and well hook up. And Na Pali is whats going on and thats the sweet spot, so like, Hey dude, no. You got it wrong. You ripped me off. I
Mikes like, Right on, fucking cool. I was fifteen years old. anyway, I leave camp and go to the cold pond for a bath. didnt rip you off and I wouldnt touch your fricking aloha
So I snuck back home and stole a blank check out of my And Im just sitting there, lovelyhubbly bubbly and this shirt. Youre out of your mind. Anyway, Swenson starts to
moms purse, signed my dads name on it for $162 bucks guy comes out of the woods. His name is Smiley. Hes got snap and hes going off and Im coming on to this Sunshine
or whatever it was, and I bought a ticket to Kauai. I get a beard down to his crotch and hair down to his butt and acid. Im going, Okay, this is weird, and he starts bounc-
there and I hitchhiked all the way to frickin Waimea and hes a total hippie freak and I say, Hey brother, hows it? ing around, falling off cliffs and running into the river and
this guy picks me up. He goes, Youre looking for friends That night, Im sleeping in the Free Store and Im getting Do you want to smoke a bowl? and hes like, Yeah, sure. hes bleedinghes running through groups of tourists
of yours and theyre surfer dudes and hippie guys? Youre chewed alive by mosquitoes. Its raining like a pig dog and Ill smoke a bowl with you. So, I whip out the last little and campers and all these people are taking swings at
going the wrong way man. Im like, Oh shit. Hes like, Im getting eaten and Swenson comes over andlets paint bowl of hash that Swenson left me and we sit there. We him. Hes snapping, gets a hold of a machete and hes run-
Yeah, North Shore. Thats where youre going to find the this picture first. I mean, Taylor Camp was not exactly always smoked the bowl and I told him the story of meeting this ning at people with this machete. So, all the guys that were
hippies. So I turn around, hitchhike all the way to Taylor a real bliss place. There was a lot of drug addicts, a lot of rip- Swenson character and the fact that he ripped me off for therenone of us knew each otherwe all get together
Camp and land on the beach going, Wow, my God. Theres offs, a lot of pretty sleazy, low-life people living there, just all my money and my hash. Well, it turns out that this and decide, Hey, weve got to take this guy out because
naked people all over and theres this unbelievable para- transients, and most of the people that youre going to see hairy hippie dude was the guy that Swenson got the hash hes going to hurt someone. Hes going to hurt someone
dise. And I meet this guy Swenson, and he says, Hey, you in this book, the people in these interviews, theyre the ones from. He goes, Man, Im really sorry about that. That sucks. bad. We move everybody off the beach up onto the trail.
want to buy some hash? and Im like, Well, thatd be cool. that actually turned the camp into a place where you could First night on the island. So, he gives me a quarter ounce Swensons just going nuts and he grabs this boulder the
Yeah. So, I buy a little fifteen dollar chunk of hash and live and be healthy, raise kids and not get ripped off or beat of black primo and five hits of Orange Sunshine and hes size of a basketball, lifts it up high and cracks it down on his
Im grooving on the beach at Taylor Camp going, Wow, up or whatever. The bad elements just started going away, like, Hey, welcome to Hawaii, brother man. Thats not the head, splits his skull wide open, blood pouring out of the
this is unbelievable! filtering out through the years; it just got cleaner and more way it works here. back of his head. He hits the beach like a fish and hes flop-

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 Calvin Kuamoo got the black hair. Wed take off our shirts and we are all
the same as themnormal. Local boys. The enemy always
ry, all these small little things so we have to look inside their
coats. Johnny Joe grabbed this guy and started searching
worked without their shirts and theyd come right up to his coat and the guy slapped him on the head. This guy is
Calvin has no phone but he breeds dogs, so I arranged a meeting through Paolo, who was getting a
us with their weapons, wave and move on. And we got to dead but he slapped Johnny Joe on the head anyway. After
puppy from Calvin. Calvin arrived for breakfast the next morning; joints rolled, and pulled up to our
follow them because we need to know where they are at. that, every mission we go out Johnny Joe will not touch any
studio in Kula with an old Corolla full of beautiful breeds. Calvins a free spirit, floating across all the They would see us following them but they would think bodies. He is not going through that again. He would bring
Hawaiian Islands but raising his dogs on Maui at the moment. nothing of it and that is how we would trick them. We were up that story every time we went out and that he does not
just like a bait out there and we felt we gotta do some- search the bodies. He would be the guard and watch over
house, it is their place, and we are jumping in from the sky. thing, because we only can do so much, and we need to us because somebodys got to do the job.
Theres times when we had to shoot our way down. It is not see the enemy because in those times they were looking It was a hunt, the greatest hunt, another human being,
an everyday job. But our government went and put us in for body counts and we had to make sure that a body is a because they can kill you too. That is how we had to do our
that position. body. We had to get real people involved in this and go out missionbefriend them, kill them and take the informa-
A lot of our missions are ambushes. We walked the whole there and be high risk and be part of the scene out there tion. On both sidesCambodia and Vietnam.
mountain range, everything that is possible. The team was and then count the bodies. Sometimes the enemy would So when I left Vietnam and got home on leave, I got a
me, Johnny Joe the Chinese, Jim Snyder an Indian from think we were part of their team and wed walk right into ride to go down to Ewa Beach where my family is located. I
Oklahoma and the montagnard. We called them mountain their camps and they wouldnt think anything. The enemy wanted nothing changed, everything as is. In my heart as
yards because they were people that lived in the moun- would welcome us guysas if it is okay, come inside, and is is home at Ewa Beach. I walked along the shoreline be-
tains. We loved them, but nobody else didespecially the we would turn around and kill them. It is a hard way to cause I wanted to be comfortable with myself and I did not
Vietnamese, because they were darker. We gave our moun- understand but I did not know what else to do. I am in a want anyone else to see me on the road walking. I walked
I went to Taylor Camp to escape my nightmares. In Viet- tain yard a Hawaiian name, Kaleo, because he looked like a foreign country, people walking by me doing nothing and I until I came to the neighborhood. I saw my mom in the
nam I volunteered for the high risks, the RangersChar- Hawaiian. I looked like him and he looks like me. One moun- have to go kill them. yard and asked if she could give me a ride to the airport be-
lie Company 75th. I landed on the fourth of July 1969 and tain yard, one Chinese, one Indian and one Hawaiianwed One mission, our team hit a battalion of NVA. It took fif- cause I had to leaveI could not go inside, I could not face
walked into hell. As soon as the door opened you could make a trap. Wed play on the trail to draw the enemy to teen hours to get us out. We fought hard. We ran out of am- the family. I told her I had to go to on to North Carolina. She
smell death. us; wed play right in front of the enemy. Since Johnny Joes munition twice and the helicopter pilots risked their lives says, Come say hello. I could not. I just came home and I
When our team jumped into Cambodia, we always get Chinese the enemy will think we are his slaves because its to come in as low as possible to give us ammunition. Rein- left. I came home and left. I couldnt even tell her why, and
our ass kicked, but we all come home. We all walked away. the same in Vietnamwhitey controls the darkiesand forcement didnt get to us until one oclock or two oclock I could not tell my grandparents, because their whole life
Nobody got left behind. Theres no dialogue between bul- we carried the loads. We were playing. Johnny Joe is like in the morning. We stood off a battalion, and when it was teaching me was about the Good News and I just went and
lets, only more bullets and who will walk away. A lot of sol- a child. We called him GI Johnny Joe. Hes a hundred and done there were only five Americans left. Bodies all over. We broke every rule that they get in that Good News and that
diers never walk away. I did. My first mission I told every- twenty pounds, just made nineteen. The mountain yard, are proud because we can walk away. But I carry those bod- is shame for me because I was not taught to be like that.
body, Im scared. They told me it is okay, its normal to be hes just learning English. ies wherever I go. After I was discharged, it was that great moment. I came
scared, and I felt good because I was scared. Every time we Everybody knows hair. The enemy knows brown and After each contact we had to search the bodies for infor- home, said hello to Mom, to Dad. My dad was so proud of
jump in, it was hot. The enemy are everywhereits their blond hair is the other gangblack hair is their gang. We mationwhere they come from, what equipment they car- meso proud. I only got a brown stareverybody gets

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 Billy Kaohelaulii whatever you got, just share. We did a lot of farming, we
had bathroom, regular running bathroom with water line,
Bobo, she was the only wahine (woman) who would swim
naked every time she was going Kalalau. She was the only
and that same water line went to water the garden, it was one and even today she still do that. She always do that.
We went to Billys in Poipu, the house he left thirty-five years ago when he went to Taylor Camp. We
so cool, everything was so good even when the big waves She is naked. Watch out something going grab you! I had
sat in a garden surrounded by thick vegetation. He told us about the stone structures hidden in the
came, because that place can change overnight, waves my clothes on.
trees next to his garden: ancient house sites, irrigation ditches, trails and temples from before Cooks pounding right through, so you got to be always alert over I used to fish with this guy Keola Kanehe from Haena.
time. The real reason why I went to Taylor Camp was to take LSD, because everybody was on LSD in there. When the waves would come, we would know so we He was my idol. This guy could catch fish morning, noon,

those days. Billy is a sound and light engineer for conventions on Kauai. would climb up in the houses my house was about eight nightwhenever you wanted fish. We always use nets; I
or ten feet high. never did use poles or lines, that was kid stuff. In those days
I have been in, my place at Taylor Camp. I think the local people got jealous because people in Tay- the Haena guys had the fishing grounds to themselves.
My house, I got it from this guyHoneywagon. He had a lor Camp was living free and they were doing their own You got to ask those people who live out there to go catch
nice A-frame house but I built another section on it, so I had thing. In those days, us young people just wanted to live a fish. You do not set your nets there, they will just grab
two bedrooms instead of one. I made a kitchen under the the way we wanted to live. I had a house in Poipu and never them and they would do something to you too. But today
house and had a three-burner kerosene stove and I would needed to go to Taylor Camp but I wanted to live free like everybody comes in and catch all the fish.
feed everybody there. All my friends would come and bring them. I just finished high school and we went to California There was lot of places we couldnt swim. It was the
food and we would be cooking. We would be eating and because we wanted to see what was like, and oh no, it old konohiki (resource management) laws to protect the
cooking all day. The river passed my house. We would go was too much for us guys so we came back. We wanted to breeding grounds, the water, the fishing. The ahupuaa
out there and swim every time we wanted to cool off. Taylor go and look for paradise; everybody was looking for para- (traditional Hawaiian geopolitical land division) goes from
Camp was good place to have music, peaceful and quiet. I dise that year. I found it out there and made myself stay put the ocean to the mountain, all one connected system, that
played music all my life. I play the guitar, a little piano and a for a while, just fishing, relaxing, helping people, doing all is real important. The old Hawaiians, they used to manage
I live on the South Side. I am a fisherman. It so happened little flute. My favorite place was the wet cavebecause of kinds of stuff to do with land. all that and they fed a lot of people, today you can hardly
in my young days I traveled Hanalei for the waves and the sound. I brought a lot of bands in there to play music. It I was a surfer and I won the surf meet way back at Ha- find anything. Today is hard, we do not have that ahupuaa
I wanted to surf the big waves and somehow I ended up blew their mind. nalei Bay; it was about ten to fifteen feet and lot of surfers system where we can feed this whole island; we do not
staying in Taylor Camp. I stayed there for a couple of years. My friends wanted to live out there but they could not be- were scared of the waves. But me and my brother were not have that anymore. They took all our water rights, now they
Me and my friends would catch a lot of fish and feed the cause they had to do their thingsjobs, familybut a lot scared, that is why we had to go out there because we had are selling our drinking water. They stopped all our rights
whole camp. of them came out there and a lot of them stayed for weeks. to meet our challenge. We challenged a lot of good guys of the land, the rights of water, the rights of the air, and
We used to walk to Kalalau and did our fishing out But a lot of locals were against that. The local people never out there in Hanalei Bay. We challenged Joey Cabell, Jimmy fishing rights. In the coming years, we are not going to
there too and we did lot of camping. I moved back and liked them because they got medical and food stamps. Lucas and lot of local surfers out there. In fact Taylor Camp have so much fishing anymore and the land will be gone,
forth. If I felt I was going to get sick, I would move back Now every time when I go back out there I just want to had a big surfing spot called Bobos. Maybe because Bobo they are going to develop and we are talking of commerce
South Side and get medical, take care of myself and then walk and looksuch wonderful memories. The reef out used to surf there. I do not know but my brother fell in love and money, taxes, everything. The living style is going to be
I would go back because I wanted to fish, I wanted to there was our favorite fishing ground. We just tell people, with that wave, so we always went out there and ride those hard. It is not going to be like Taylor Campsimple. Simple
surf, I wanted to relax. It was the most peaceful place you get the wine, we get the fish. Everything was cool, share waves when it was big. living is real hard now.

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 Teri and Debi Green Coast with all antennae up. It was about peeling back the
layers of the onion, and what a great place to experience
did you do for refrigeration. We kept a clean kitchen and
we didnt let just anybody into the house which didnt go
that. I asked Kate Pure; she said she took LSD at least three down too well with some of the people in camp because
We flew to San Francisco just to interview Debi and Teri. They missed the reunions in Hawaii but were
hundred times at Taylor Camp, and Kate is an attorney now. it was one of the unwritten rules that everybody was wel-
essential to our storyto everyones story. Debis a realtor and Teris a personal assistant par excel-
We still have our faculties. That is the other thing, as many come everywhere, but we didnt like people sitting on our
lence in San Francisco. It was definitely a girl thing, so Margo conducted the interview. Teri started off. brain cells that you think you have burned, you can regen- cushions naked. Some people had scabies and crabs and all
We, as far as Taylor Camp went, were kind of straight. erate through use of your mind and realization power. that stuff.
Teri: You needed some kind of centered sanity, some kind Teri: We went out to the beach naked but we were not
every Saturday like a clockwork at about three, saying, Ill of focus, not just running around and banging your bon- strutters or flaunters. We internalized it, we were not ex-
be here twenty-four hours. Because he wanted the sunrise gos on the beach in the full moon. That worked for some ternal. I mean we were there for the nature experience but
light, the sunset light He slept over. Those dinners were people, thats true. But you have to start expanding your we took that nature experience and we brought it inside of
fabulous. We always had a nice big dinner. We were pretty mind on your own and you can accelerate the expansion ourselves.
family oriented, maybe because we were sisters. with LSD. For meacid was a tool, it was a spiritual awak- Debi: The power of less is more. I loved riding my bike to
Teri: I think it was great having my sister there. I would ening, used with a focus and a purpose. It wasnt just, Lets Hanalei. The time I put my bathing suit on to ride my bike
not have had it any other way. We were really very comple- party, break out the acid! and I was riding through camp with my ten speed I got cat
mentary. It is funny though how a persons personality Debi: Remember the mango pies? On my birthday I would calls all the way up the trail from guys that have seen me
though we were young and we were forming who we take a hit of LSD and go by myself down the Na Pali Coast. naked day in and day out.
were, there were certain traits that stuck with us as we got My birthday is mango season and Teri would make me Teri: I have a deep regard for mother nature. I also have a
older. So being outward and vivacious and enthusiastic and the first mango pie of the season. I would spend that pretty good idea about how things happen in life and how
What was your relationship like with Minka and Alpin? networking, social, and Debi is queen of that realm. That day by myself with my pie in that very naked state. It was you have to be able to be an accepting person. And when
Teri: We were from a family of all girls so it was just natural was not me. Though it threw everybody a curve, because a spiritual experience. Our life is our religion, it does not you live in a place like Taylor Camp, you have to flow, there
to have more girls around. people could not tell us apart for a long time. They thought really matter what you say you believe; whatever you are is no control. If you try to control things, you are up against
Debi: But it was mostly Minka, shed come over to sleep in we were twin sisters. They called us the Sin Twisters. living is your religion. And thanks for the pies, the pies even more than what you are trying to control. And there
my bed occasionally in the middle of the night. Not so much Debi: It was a blessing! I was living in Santa Barbara when were fabulous! were people at camp that were controllers. So I think my
Alpin, she was a little younger and they were two different I got a package from Teri, filled with sands, shells and dried Teri: That was after I got married and got the oven as a nature now is just kind of evolved from that little seed
personalities. Alpin had already forged a very strong rela- up plumerias and a little shirt crocheted and a one-hun- wedding gift. Remember it went over the Coleman stove? of understanding that it does not always go the way you
tionship with Rose and Jan and they took care of her. Dana dred dollar bill. It was ninety dollars round trip. So I sublet Yes that Dutch ovenI asked for real practical things as want it to but that is okay, and you can take a bad situation
came along later and we welcomed her into our house and my apartment and just left. After my two-week stay, I said, gifts when I got married. I got the pie recipe out of the Tas- and turn it into something good.
she ended up living with us for several years after we moved I am selling everything and going back. I left Santa Bar- sajara Cookbook. Debi: Cosmic coincidence, which is a huge watchword for
out of Taylor Camp. She was our mothers helper and was bara with a Visine bottle full of Owsley liquid LSD. It was Debi: I still have my yoga natural cookbook. We were veg- my life. Ive turn my life into a series of cosmic coincidenc-
always cleaning. Dana was a good girl with a hard life. We the most incredible medicinal tool that I ever experienced etarians. Fish was fine but there was no question about es. Living the experience of Taylor Camp wasoutside of
always had a lot of food. John Wehrheim used to show up in my life. There is nothing like standing out on the Na Pali did you eat steak or where do you put your meat or what becoming a mother and losing my motherprobably the

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 Rosey Rosenthal one agreed. But if you were doing bad, then you got wiped
out, and all it took was vibes. It didnt take muscle, no one
We played a fundraiser for Mayor Yukimura when she first
campaigned for council. I dont know if she wants to take
had a gun. credit for that, but thats among the highlights of THCs
Rosey claims Kauai slowed him down, but we had to chase him from his ESPN radio show to a wres-
I take that back. Someone just told me that Hawk had a gigs. We had different events, the big fourth of July party at
tling match and then a swim meet and finally the baseball diamond in Hilo where he answered our
guna little pistol. Lets face it, being a haole on Kauai in Kauai Resort, a Halloween party at the Coco Palms Hotel. So
questions while pounding on his glove. Besides being the Big Islands leading sports show personality, the seventies you walk very quietly, very respectfully. You this band was playing to the whole publiclocals, haoles.
hes special assistant to the mayor. dont want to make waves. You are very thankful that these We were part of the fabric of this communitymy team.
people are sharing this incredible place with you. You knew But the interaction between us and the local community
Ooh, ooh, ooh, right? But when you live naked and you where to go; you knew where not to go. You dont want to on a sexual level was very limitedvery minor. There was
see these girls naked every day they become your sisters. put yourself in situations where the local guys have been not a lot of breeding going on between the Taylor Hippie
Theres no prurient interest. Its like hanging out with your drinking all night and you show up at one in the morning, Camp and the local community; not much at all.
sisters every day. But when a new girl came onto the beach Hi brothers! No, you dont do that kind of stuff. The local guys were shy. And the local girlsI mean, its
wearing a little bikini, youd go, Ooh, whats going on with I was a softball pitcher, so I had lot of friends, local guys. one thing to smile, to say hi to us, but to be intimate on
that? You know what I mean? And even beyond that, peo- I knew a lot of people in the government. Max Graham those levels, that wasnt happening in the seventies. Later
ple think, Oh, you were naked. You were hippies. I never was one of the guys I played ball with. He was a great law- on things changed, things opened up, but at that time,
knew about any orgies, and if I knew about them, Id be yer. He surfed Haena. He was the Legal Aid guy, so who there really wasnt a lot of breeding at all going on between
there. You know what I mean? It wasnt like I was shy about would a poor guy like me use as a lawyer? Legal Aid, right? the local community and the hippies.
that kind of thing. Right? It wasnt going on. It was mainly We were covered by the Dislocated Persons Act. Howard Our softball team played in the local league, with all the
couples. Relationships. There wasI mean, maybe it was Taylors land was condemned by the state, so we quali- local guys. I had a lot of friends that were local guys that
We were a Kauai community at the end of the road in the going on somewhere at sometime, but wild orgies werent fied. The law said that if they wanted to get rid of us they were playing on our team, because they liked hanging with
seventies living like some of our local neighbors were liv- the prevalent thing. The relationships were like any middle had to find us a place to live, give us money to move, set us, because they liked the herb connection, because they
ing. No electricity, no one had anything. It was outhouses; it class community. us up with employment when we got there. We had all got fringe benefits. Outside of our immediate community,
was very, very simple, very, very slow. Even for a fast talking I hear stories about the raping, the molesting. I dont deny these services; we were covered. Max worked that for us the one local guy that had the most affect on our reputa-
New Yorker, it slowed me down. that maybe some of that did happen, but we didnt know for several years. tion with the rest of the island was Dennis Wakumoto;
The only reason that we were able to stay there for the about it. Our daily livesyou would wake up in the morn- Even JoAnn Yukimura, she was my good friend. In fact, our Dennis of Hanalei Liquor Store. Everyone in the North Shore
seven, eight years that we there was because the local ing and youd look out on the beach; everyone would be do- bandwe had a very good band, the THC band, which was owed him money at one time or another. If you lived on the
guys let us stay there, the Hawaiians. They let us poach on ing whatever they didsun salutations, tai chi, the yoga obviously the islands most out there entertainmentwe North Shore, you owed Dennis money, you were on his list.
the most beautiful spot on the island. They let usif they stuff, prayers. Everyone was trying to do good, whatever called it THC. Well, THC stands for two things; Taylor Hip- He only had a piece of cardboard, it was no big deal where
really didnt want us there, the nightwalkers would have their good was, wherever they were from. Now not every- pie Camp, and also people thought that maybe it stood for he kept his list and stuff, but you owed him money Den-
gotten rid of us, drove us out. ones good was the samesome California surfers good the active quality in marijuana, which was also THC. But nis was the most classic guy, the most amazing guy. So he
We were naked. Everyone assumes naked means las- wasnt necessarily what a hippie from New York thought no no, it was Taylor Hippie Camp; we were innocent of that sponsored our team; bought us uniforms, he backed us up.
civious. They have all these things in their minds. They go, was good. So you had cultural divisions. It wasnt like every- other charge. We traveled Hanalei Liquor Store all over the state. We car-

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 Sam Lee I visited the camp several times. I thought it was pretty
remarkable. I marveled at the ingenuity of these folks in the
not like to do again and I would have to say Taylor Camp
would be one of those. There was a perception back then
things that they built, in the materials that they scrounged that all these guys are hippiesthey are all on welfare
Surfer, diver and all-around waterman, famous as one of the big wave pioneers of Waimea Bay, Sam
and used to build some very habitable and unique homes. and hanging on the steps of Ching Young Store waiting for
Lee was the states land agent in charge of burning Taylor Camp. He was also involved with keeping
We had to go down to inventory the houses and draw up checks from Mom and Dad or from the government they
Kalalau free of squatters and pakalolo gardens. I suppose those of us who wear collared shirts, pants, maps. It was my job to go down there and take pictures and are dope dealers and bad people. But they really werent.
socks and shoes to work every day probably felt a bit envious of those folks who lived such a life, such a familiarize myself with the camp. I talked to quite a few I know. They were good people. Taylor Camp prepared the

great life. We interviewed Sam surrounded by bonsai plants in his Poipu garden. people and was always greeted pleasantly. local North Shore folks for Princeville; it was the first sub-
I was invited into a number of those homes and I sat and division or housing development of people different than
I did not become involved with Taylor Camp until after the talked with them. I think for a group of people just to come locals. Of course I am being partially facetious, but there
state acquired the property from Mr. Taylor for the Na Pali together from all over and create a little settlement there was a strange little parallel there.
State Park. The state started legal proceedings but it took and live, is a commentary on that timeSan Francisco, The reason that the state acquired the property was to
awhile to close the deal. Max Graham was the Legal Aid Haight Ashbury and free spirit. And what a great spot for create a state park for Kauai to enjoy. I have had cause to
attorney representing the residents and there were pro- a community, the ocean, the beach, the trees and the Na wonder about what happened to that plan. I firmly believe
tracted legal proceedings; so for me Taylor Camp became a Pali Coast. It was paradise. Freedombut yet I am sure they that acquiring coastal land from private interests before it
matter of professional interest. I was the district land agent had their issues. Whenever you get more than two humans is developed is always the best thing to do, and so for that
for the Department of Land and Natural Resources on together, there is bound to be conflict sometime, but over reason I can say I believe in the process even though it in-
Kauai and became involved with acquisition of the prop- quite a few years they managed to live happily and coexist. volves difficult situations like Taylor Camp. However, I am
erty and worked with State Parks to clear the camp for park Over the years Ive come to really admire Bobo for what disappointed that after more that thirty years the plan has
development. she has accomplished over her lifetime. I like her a lot. not yet come to pass. I am sure there are fifty-million excus-
Notices were handed out to the residents, warning no- I was there during the burning of the camp. It was not a When we see each other it is a warm greeting; we are old es for why I that has not happened. However, the natural
tices with the date people had to move out. Over time that pleasant thing to do. However, you get caught with situa- friends. Bobo is the only Taylor Camper who is a constant beauty of that coast starting with Taylor Camp and going
turned into eviction. Some residents chose to relocate on tions that are not to your liking but you proceed based on in my life. And Rosey Rosenthal who was a young fiery guy all the way down the length of the Na Pali is an incredible
their own and others did not. It was those people who re- your orders. I do not believe there was any question of the who was going to put the state over a barrel, the mayor of treasure. It is something that needs to be kept in the pub-
mained to the bitter end that became the subjects of the legality of what the state did but it was not a happy experi- Taylor Camp. I believe he is now assistant to the mayor of lic domain and enjoyed by as many people as possible. I
eviction process. That involved the Kauai Police Depart- ence for me. I did not enjoy doing it, but I was resigned to the County of Hawaii and good for Rosey; he was always think Haena and the Na Pali Coast are treasures that are
ment, state park personnel, people from the Attorney Gen- making it as painless as possible. There were relocation ser- destined for great things. Heavens know where the winds amongst the most important in our country, in the world. I
erals Office. It was a fairly large undertaking, equipment, vices offered by the state to soften the fall. I made a number have scattered the rest; I hope they are all well. can remember days and many nights in that quiet beauti-
laborers to actually carry out the demolition of houses, and of acquaintances there and Im friends with some of them I retired four years ago. I am grateful I was able to work ful place, just enthralled by the moon on the ocean, on that
to my recollection there was no violence, no confrontations. to this day. I think they understand that we had a job to do for the DLNR. That was how I moved to this beautiful is- beachand daytime up in the valley in the trees and the
The people werent happy to be taken out of their homes, and unfortunately they happened to be the assignment. It land from Oahu, earned a living and raised a family. But I stream. It is just special, you see these kinds of things and
but I do believe everyone was amply warned. certainly was not personal. It was the end of an era. am glad it is over, like any job there are tasks that I would it just blows your mind away.

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