Founder of hippie commune The Farm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Stephen Gaskin, a counterculture visionary who led a caravan of hippies from California to establish one of the country's longest-lasting communes in rural Tennessee and later sought the Green Party nomination for president, has died. He was 79.
Gaskin died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Summertown, said Gretchen Bates, who grew up on The Farm and is close to Gaskin's family.
Gaskin, a Korean War veteran, was a writing instructor at San Francisco State College when his "Monday Night Class" on love, sex, politics, drugs and other nontraditional college topics became popular with hippie students.
In 1970, he led a caravan of about 320 hippies to 1,750 acres of rough ridge country where they founded the back-to-basics collective on about 3 square miles. It was meant to be an "experiment in sustainable, developmentally progressive human habitat," according to the website.
By 1980, The Farm's population had grown to more than 1,200 in Lewis County near Summertown. But a financial crisis a few years later led to a reorganization in which members began paying monthly dues. Currently, The Farm has about 200 residents.
Gaskin went to prison in 1974 for marijuana possession and served one year of a three-year sentence. Under state law, he lost his right to vote because of the conviction. He mounted a successful court challenge to the law and had his voting rights restored.
In 2000, Gaskin sought the Green Party presidential nomination, advocating peace, social consciousness and the legalization of marijuana. He called himself a "hippie priest and freelance rebel rouser."
Metro on 07/04/2014