Ken Babbs

American novelist

Ken Babbs (born January 14, 1936) is a famous Merry Prankster who became one of the psychedelic leaders of the 1960s. He along with best friend and Prankster leader, Ken Kesey, wrote the book Last Go Round. Babbs is best known for his participation in the Acid Tests and on the bus Furthur.

Ken Babbs was born January 14, 1936, and raised in Mentor, Ohio. He attended the Case Institute of Technology where he briefly studied engineering for two years on a basketball scholarship, before transferring to Miami University, from which he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English literature in 1958. He then attended the Stanford University graduate creative writing program on a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship from 1958–59; having entered the NROTC program to fund his undergraduate studies, Babbs was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps following the end of his fellowship. He trained as a helicopter pilot and served in one of the first American advisory units in Vietnam from 1962 1963 prior to his discharge. Babbs had no understanding of the impact the war had on him until he received his orders to go to Vietnam. Babbs later stated that he "had no perceptions of the right or wrong of the situation before I went to Vietnam, but it took about six weeks to realize we were wasting our time there being humble, respect[ing] local customs, learn[ing] the language and helping does more good than hurting." While serving in Vietnam he began writing about his experience. In the fall of 1958, Babbs took a writing class at Stanford University with another Wilson Fellow, Ken Kesey. Babbs later described meeting Kesey as "a moment of mirth and sadness, highness and lowliness, interchanging of ideas and musical moments." They became friends, maintained a correspondence while Babbs was stationed in the Far East with the Marines, and eventually formed the Merry Pranksters.

What started as a Happening or series of theatrical performances eventually emerged into a movement. According to Babbs, a Happening is something that "can’t be planned It just happens! It takes place in public or private and involves everyone present. In Phoenix in 1964, we painted "A Vote for Barry is a Vote for Fun" on the side of the bus and waved flags and played stars and stripes forever this qualified as both a prank and a Happening." Prior to Babbs’ creation, it was discovered that particular music usually sounded distorted when cranked to high levels because of the concrete floor in the San Francisco Longshoreman’s Union Hall (where the Trips Festival was taking place). Babbs being a sound engineer resolved the problem. He made sound amplifiers that would not create distorted sounds when turned up to high sound levels. The purpose for this Happening was to link the psychedelic tribes from the west and the east. Many people tend to remember the east tribe because of Timothy Leary and LSD. Many misjudgments have been made on the Pranksters and their promotion of LSD. However, Babbs makes it clear that "just because we used LSD does not mean we were promoting its use. (LSD) is a dangerous drug [It’s] a way, I guess, of breaking down the conformist ideology." The film shot on a camera and 16 mm color film was intended to be called The Merry Pranksters Search for a Kool Place. However in 1999, a 50 minute edit of the movie was released, and in 2002 another excerpt was distributed but not completed. The 2011 documentary film, Magic Trip featured much of the footage. In January 2022 Tsunami Books of Eugene, Oregon published Babbs' recently completed memoir "Cronies."