From Wikipedia: Kenneth Elton “Ken” Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist, and counterculture figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and thehippies of the 1960s.

Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado and grew up in Springfield, Oregon, graduating from the University of Oregon in 1957. He began writing the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1960, which was an immediate commercial and critical success when published two years later. Subsequently, he moved to La Honda, California and began hosting parties known as “Acid Tests” which involved LSD. He belonged to a group of friends known as the “Merry Pranksters” and socialised with San Francisco band the Grateful Dead, influencing their career.

In 1965, following an arrest for marijuana possession and subsequent faked suicide, Kesey was imprisoned for five months, following which he moved toPleasant Hill, Oregon, leading a more secluded life, writing many books and articles. He reunited with the Merry Pranksters in the 1990s and began publishing works on the internet, before ill health curtailed his activities.