60s-70s Stories

A collection of Starrison and Mclennon one shots.

The year is 1967, and eighteen year old Julie Baker is sick of the life she's known. A young, social elite living a life of luxury, country clubs, and cotillions in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Julie's patience runs out and she convinces her parents that for her last summer before college, she should travel to San Francisco and spend it with her parents friend, Lazarus Keith. California bound, smooth sailing is not what Julie gets. After a particularly bad situation at a gas station, Julie- now transformed to Kit First, lover of peace, flowers, and beads- finds herself on a different route to California, with people she never would have imagined herself with. Meet Ivy, Jonathan, and Lawrence; Julie's new way to get to CA, and watch this Southern belle find herself caught up at the peak of the hippie revolution, where the war in Vietnam is the enemy, love is all you need, and San Francisco is the place to be.

Gypsy Summer Adelhard is like almost every other young girl growing up in the 60's except she falls in love with a young drifter. He mesmerizes her and they form a strong bond with each other. Her hometown causes difficulty along the way and she faces many contradictions with her own beliefs. She is forced to either ignore the hatred forced upon the ones she loves or stand up for what she believes in. Along the way, she meets interesting individuals that shape her and show her who she really is. A fiery individual at heart Gypsy dishes out no pity and she fights for what is right. Will she change her own heart during a time when everything seems to be changing?

I'm a little sentimental right now, sitting here thinking about my folks who have been gone for many years now and wishing I could sit down with the family at the kitchen table and laugh about some of the stupid stuff we did as kids. Many of those things that I hold dear in my heart came with a price - sometimes easy in the way of laughter, and sometimes hard in the way of tears, but all of them - priceless. But for the most part, life along the Queset was so much easier. Growing up wasn't nearly as hard as it is today and while we were pretty much on the poor side of things, I wouldn't change it. In fact, I wish I could take a day and go back - take the time to show my own kiddo the places I walked and played. She can never see it with my eyes, and it will never mean to her, what it means to me. She will never know what it was like to grow up in the 60s and 70s. In some ways that's good, but it's sad that so much of what was good and simple, rests only in the past. So slow down, and don't keep living for tomorrow. Take a long look at what is today because you will never get it back.