Chapter Seven and a Half:
                 Canoe Races, Esalen, ETC

    

        In my early days at Sacramento there were such old
   school personalities as Unruh, Hugh Burns (conservative
   Democratic Speaker Pro Tem in the Senate), and of course, on
   the Republican side, Reagan, the Governor, who was not old
   school in style but certainly one who sought to turn the
   clock back in substance.
 
        Actually Reagan was one who helped create political
   opportunity for some newer forces. His punitive approach to
   students at the University of California and State College
   campuses created a Cause for the California student movement,
   culminating in several marches on the Capitol. (Included in
   the marching students were my eldest children Jill and
   David). 

        The student movement had first become big news in '64
   with the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley. Although this
   partially became confused with four-letter word frenzy, it
   represented a major Youth Dissatisfaction with the power
   structure of society, and changes were blowin' in the wind.
   Reagan with his authoritarian dollar-minded tuition-increas-
   ing attitude on funding higher education, formed an
   opposition focal point for student energy to coalesce about.
   The war in Vietnam was another.

        I don't want to say that the student movement was a
   dominant force in determining political decisions in the late
   '60's and early '70's, even after the advent of the 18 year 
   old vote. But it did serve to bend things a bit.

        During these years the male-dominated power structure
   was also in transition at the Capitol ('old school' giving
   way to facets of 'new school'). Before the '66 election there
   was one female member of the Assembly, a conservative
   democrat (originally elected to fill her deceased husband's
   seat), Pauleen Davis.

        In 1966 Pauleen was re-elected, along with, as I said,
   two other democratic women, March Fong and Yvonne
   Braithwaite, both of whom later became occasional participants
   in 'Micemilk' (the customarily male, but only modestly macho,
   liberal-leaning anti-authoritarian group founded by John Burton).
 
        Black membership in the Assembly increased to five as a
   result of the same election. By 1976 the people had elected the
   first woman to the State Senate. Changes continued...

        From 1970 til the early 1980's Democratic Assembly
   leadership changed hands several times...'old school'
   leadership seemed (on the surface at least) to be truly on
   its way out. In the 1968 election the Republicans took
   control of the State Assembly, and Jess Unruh had to take a
   hard step down the ladder, from Speaker to Minority leader. 
   With changes taking place in personnel and thinking
   patterns, changes in leadership style had been certain to
   occur. Republicans capturing the majority in the Assembly
   toppled Power Broker Unruh from the Speakership. As minority
   leader he was still top Democrat in the Assembly, but Unruh 
   then gave up the minority leader's job to run for Governor.
 
        The results of Unruh's race for governor against Reagan
   were no surprise. Reagan won handily. Unruh later ran twice
   unsuccessfully for mayor of Los Angeles, and finally was
   elected State Treasurer, a personal benefit to him but it
   carried no real power in the party or voice in State
   Government. However, in 1970 a major Democratic leadership
   fight in the Assembly followed in his wake--there was a
   prolonged power struggle to determine who would replace him
   as minority leader. 

        There were 39 of us; 17 supported conservative Democrat
   Joe Gonsalves, 14 supported liberal Willie Brown, the rest of
   us supported another liberal, Bob Crown. So as is not
   unusual, the liberals had the majority of the votes but were
   split on candidates. No one knew at this point that a few
   weeks hence a majority of us would agree on an entirely
   different candidate.

        During the process of this month-long leadership fight,
   Willie Brown happened to catch Alan Sieroty and I together in
   the hall and solicited both of our votes at the same time.
   "You know, I really don't want to be Speaker. I want to be
   Mayor," he told us. I guess Willie thought we were afraid he
   sought the Minority leadership as a logical step in the
   direction of the Speakership. "Mayor", we understood, meant 
   Mayor of San Francisco, and I frankly hadn't even thought
   about that. At the time, I knew Bob Crown better than
   Willie--Bob had come to Vallejo to speak for me at a dinner
   when I first ran in '66, and during my first term we had
   adjacent offices (mine a modest cottage, his a minor castle
   on "King's Row"). As far as I knew then, Crown and Willie
   were of a similar stripe, but Crown was more traditional in
   personal behaviour. Alan and I both liked Willie but trusted
   Crown's approach more at the time. At the Capitol and in the
   Press, Brown was known for his outspokenness, great sense of
   humor, apparent fearlessness of convention, and for being
   among the most well-dressed of the legislators...but you
   can't really say 'best-dressed' because that implies a
   standard set of values he didn't follow...or competition
   within a category (he belonged to none). If asked what he WAS
   following you'd have to say: he wasn't. (If Willie Brown was
   following something I'll be damned if I know what it was).
   So, Alan and I favored Bob Crown and had agreed to
   support him, and we told Willie that.

        He continued to make his bid, saying, as I've mentioned,
   "There may be one thing you don't understand...I don't really
   want to be Speaker....." (of course, some years later he
   would willingly and ably take on that role).

        The minority leadership fight of 1970 preempted most of
   our energy for several weeks. It was not at all an Unimpor--
   tant decision and I was staying at the Capitol several nights
   in a row. One night after the Crown group had been meeting
   (some 8 of us), I said I was gonna go talk to Willie so I did
   at his office, for over an hour. Part of the time, he was on
   the phone to other people, so our conversation wasn't really
   that long, and I remember that once he said to whoever he
   had on the line, "I have Mr. Dunlap here with me" just to let
   people know he was talking to me and that that
   meant....something. 

        I told Willie I certainly had no objection to a black as
   minority leader for the democrats in the Assembly (though a
   few democrats did). I said that his flambuoyance made him
   possibly less effective for our purposes. In this position a
   fighting Banty Rooster might well stir up more trouble, but a
   staid Rhode Island Red would look better to the general
   public and might in this case get more done. So I suggested
   to him why didn't we compromise on John Miller, a black from
   Berkeley. John Miller sat beind me my first term in the
   Assembly, and so did Pete Wilson his seatmate. They used to
   play chess when things in the chambers were going slowly.]

        Miller was conservative in dress and spoke in a studious
   manner. Politically, he and Willie had very similar views.
   Willie didn't buy my suggestion at the time. However, a few
   days later, that's exactly what happened. All but one of the
   Crown supporters joined the original Brown supporters in 
   electing John MIller the only black minority leader of any
   U.S. legislature at that time.

        After another election in '70 (in which the democrats
   won back control of the Assembly), Bob Moretti, backed by
   Willie Brown, became Speaker. Then in '74 Moretti ran for
   Governor and Leo McCarthy aced out Brown to succeed Moretti
   as Speaker. As a Brown supporter at this time I was surprised
   Willie had not 'sewn up' the votes for himself. McCarthy
   remained Speaker until 1982 when he was succeeded by Brown in
   a bloodless coup or 'deal'. McCarthy had been in trouble and
   instead of being defeated threw his support to Willie. 

        The time when my friendships and legislative alliances
   with Willie and Burton developed most was just after the 1970
   election. Willie was Chairman of Ways and Means then, and
   John Burton was Chairman of The Rules Committee. (The Rules
   Committee in the Assembly wasn't as important as the name
   implies. The Speaker had more power than the Rules Committee;
   in the Senate, quite the opposite was true, the Rules
   Committee ruled the roost.) Because Willie and Burton
   recognized I had something on the ball, and agreed with my
   basic policies, they prevailed on Moretti to put me on the
   two committees. These positions gave me the opportunity to
   get a few things done. I was also on the Education Committee,
   and highly involved in conservation legislation. Within Ways
   and Means I was Chair of the Natural Resources subcommittee, 
   which included the budget of State Parks and Recreation.
 
        In this position I was able to do something for Natural
   Resouce preservation. Reagan had a very aggressive Parks and
   Recreation director who had some basic good public interest
   values, but he was also for overdevelopment, as opposed to
   preservation of parks in their natural state.

        In one case, he planned to build a convention center at
   Point Magu State Park. All in one day we (committee members,
   our staff member Bob Connolly, Reagan's Park and Rec.
   Director whose name was William Penn Mott, and a couple of
   expert conservationists) flew by commercial airline to Los
   Angeles, then went by car to Leo Carrillo State Park (a beach
   park), and then from there we were picked up by two army
   helocopters and flown north along the coast to Point Magu,
   overviewing the park and landing in La Jolla valley inland
   two miles from the coast. We looked over the valley's native
   grasses and streams and studied the question of whether
   putting in a road, necessary parking places, etc, would too
   greatly change what the place had to offer in its more
   natural state. We (the conservationist faction) were
   successful in stopping the immediate overdevelopment of the
   park. We won that round. Beyond that I'm not sure what
   happened, as I became involved in too many other things to be
   able to stay personally in touch with the details over a
   period of years.

        Another conservation issue was The Old Bale Mill, long a
   historical landmark in Napa County. The Mill, though still
   open to be viewed by the public, was deteriorating and
   neglected, and I was able to have it transfered from the
   County of Napa to the State Parks' far better-funded system.
   My position on Ways and Means made it easier to steer the
   bill on this through the legislature and get the signature of
   the Governor. There were other instances along these same
   lines: like, the creation of an ecological preserve along the
   banks of the Napa River, a "Linear Park" in Yountville where
   right now one can play Bocce Ball on property formerly owned
   by the highway department, and the biggest thing, laying the
   groundwork for leasing from the state to the county the land
   for "Skyline Park" (this became one of the only places close
   to the town of Napa with developed hiking trails).

        It was also during this period that I tried to be to
   some extent effective in politics beyond my district (like
   the McGovern campaign of 1972.) In 1971 John Vasconcellos and
   I and Willie and Burton and Bob Crown and John Miller were
   the first members of the California legislature to openly
   come out for McGovern. In 1972 Speaker Moretti sent me to
   Washington to testify at a committee meeting on the subject
   of stopping oil drilling in critical areas. Senator Cranston
   had a bill in relative to protection of coastal tidelands
   from federal oil drilling leases in the ocean, and I was 
   testifying for the Speaker in favor of Cranston's bill (while
   there I did visit McGovern, but our meeting was very brief--
   more or less a courtesy on his part to me as a supporter in a
   crucial state).

        John Harrington (the Chair Tossing Expert I've
   previously mentioned) became my legislative assistant in 1970
   of this same session. As a rules committee member I got an
   extra staff assistant. John was a Napa JC/Sonoma State
   College graduate, originally from Texas. He had some of Clark
   Gable's good looks (the mustache but not the height), a loud
   but warm and articulate voice, and he originated the nickname
   "Buns", for our second St. Bernard Gulliver. John was about
   24 when he showed up at the Capitol. We put together our
   first legislation on the subject of "Corporate
   Responsibility", trying to restrict or inhibit agencies of
   the state government from investing heavily in corporations
   operating in and supporting apartheid government in South
   Africa. "Apartheid Government" essentially means "Racist
   Regime".

        Basically we were tilting windmills then, John and I,
   because the only thing we got for our causes was a public
   hearing. Our bills got scotched by all the committees,
   including the ones that I was on. Burton and Brown, my
   liberal friends on the Ways and Means Committee, weren't much
   help. Although I'm sure they supported our objectives, they 
   weren't articulate about it. Of course, Willie did let us 
   have our hearings, which he could as Chairman have side-
   tracked. They were an important initial step in developing a
   favorable climate in public opinion--a necessity for later
   action.

        I remember about this time at a Ways and Means committee
   I had a minor clash with Willie...about the only time this
   happened (except opposing him in favor of Crown for Minority
   leader). As Chairman, he took the part of a landowner's
   lobbyist, and forced an amendment of a parks bill by Senator
   Arlen Grigorio. It appeared to me that Willie was doing a
   favor for his lobbyist friend which I felt somewhat weakened
   a good Open Space Preservation bill. At the Micemilk lunch
   that week I complained to him about it when Vasco and Moretti
   were both present and WIllie said, "Dunlap, how'd you get on
   Ways and Means, anyway?" implying that he could get me kicked
   off if he wanted to. I said something like, "Well, you said
   you wanted me on Ways and Means because I was tough..."
   implying that that was what I was being, when I challenged
   him in committee. At this point the argument kind of fell
   apart. I had made my point, Willie did not get Moretti to
   kick me off Ways and Means...but Willie's will prevailed on
   the substance of the Grigorio bill. My reason for bringing it
   up at Micemilk in the presence of the others was to be sure
   to get some kind of serious response from him. I also wanted 
   him to know I knew what he was doing.

        As my opportunity for getting things done ("power") 
   increased, following the democrats regaining control of the
   Assembly in 1970, so did that of other democratic friends.
   Alan Sieroty became chairman of the Criminal Justice
   Committee. John Vasconcellos also secured an important spot
   on the Ways and Means Committee (John had been an early
   supporter of WIllie Brown and was a good friend of Bob
   Moretti).

        We legislators did occasionally have time and opportunity
   to help out in each others' campaigns. Attending a fundraiser
   was one way. One of the problems candidates on any level or
   advocates for any cause have in common is raising money.
   There were all sorts of fundraising activities*, most of them
   not highly entertaining. The most typical was the candidate's
   dinner, where supporters paid from twice to ten or fifteen
   times what the meal was worth, and also were bored listening
   to speeches. There was plenty of food and plenty of booze and
   everybody was (plenty) bored.

        "Mr. Democrat" in Sonoma County, Bob Trowbridge, offered
   a refreshing alternative in the 'canoe ride' fundraiser. He
   owned a canoe rental outfit on the Russian River, and in both
   my '74 and '78 elections gave a 'free day', turning the 
   ____________________
   *See pages   ___ for more examples.

   operation over to the politicos, the profits for the day to
   go to the campaign coffers. It made for good publicity (and
   was widely pre-publicized, to bring in a large--paying of 
   course--political crowd), made some money, and was just plain 
   fun for all involved (well, usually, as we shall see). Some
   of my fellow legislators participated in the Canoe Day--
   Willie Brown, for instance, came and brought his kids.

        The first Trowbridge Canoe Day/Political Outdoor Get-
   Together I attended was not for my own campaign. It was in
   1972, when George McGovern had won the California
   presidential primary...The McGovern campaign was faced with a
   problem of how to finance convention attendance for its
   delegates, may of whom were too poor to easily afford air
   fare to, let alone food and lodging in, Miami. Usually
   convention delegates are relatively well-off people who can
   afford to pay their own way. Trowbridge, a Hubert Humphrey
   supporter in the primary, was generous enough to donate his
   canoes for a day to support the McGovern delegates' travel
   fund. So, many of us McGovern supporters were on the Russian
   River early in July of 1972, including legislators George
   Moscone, John Burton, Willie Brown, and myself.
 
        We all rented the canoes at their usual price. The
   turnout was good. It was an unusual day on the river, where
   usually your chances of knowing the people in the canoe on
   your left were about as good as knowing the driver in the car 
   next to you in commute traffic. We floated on down the river
   with family and friends and after we had all made the trip,
   changed our clothes for the picnic. I had been wearing a 
   swimsuit and changed to clean shirt and jeans. Others,
   including Willie Brown, were now dressed more fashionably. We
   were standing around at the barbecue by the beach when some
   fellow with the Sacramento Press Corps suggested there be a
   canoe race between the legislators, and pitted the Big Guys
   against the Little Guys, Willlie and I (at 5'7" and 5'8´")
   versus Moscone and Burton (both ex-basketball players
   somewhat over six feet tall).

        It was to be a short race of only a few hundred yards,
   starting from the water's edge, going out around a float,
   downstream around another float, and back to the beach.
   Willie had misgivings, because he was now quite dressed up
   (maybe to go somewhere else after the barbecue), but the idea
   of the contest was too much for any of us to resist. As we
   walked to where the canoes were moored I was hoping my
   canoeing experiece would do us some good but I couldn't
   really figure out how.

         Recognizing that we the 'little guys' might well be 
   the losers, I complained to Burton, "Don't you
   big six-footers feel ashamed at such an unequal contest?"

        "Oh, we're not feeling so sure of ourselves, John," he
   said. "You've got two big advantages: you're obviously a
   seasoned old Napa River Rat (just masquerading as a country 
   lawyer), and. . . . .Willie Brown's ego."

        "In this venue I'll take the term 'River Rat' as a
   compliment", I told him, "but...it takes more than Ego to 
   propell a canoe though the water."

        At this point Willie immediatly interjected, "The hell
   it does, Dunlap--just watch me!!"

         Willie and I were placed on the upstream side, which
   would place us on the outside of the first turn, and I could
   see that we were sure losers unless we got to the current
   first--the river was calm closer to the bank; the current was
   where you could get some speed up. I pointed this out to
   Willie and we took our seats; he took the rear seat where
   more of the steering was done, and I took the prow. We got a
   fast start and Willie cut in front of them and we got out
   into the current first and they never had a chance to catch
   us. 

        After we got ahead, Willie, knowing we were winning,
   wanted me to quit paddling so hard because it was splashing
   him. He kept yelling, in a tone between entreaty and command,
   "Dunlap, slow down, we're winning! They're way behind..! You
   can slow down!!" I pretended not to hear, and went on
   paddling with all my might. It really only splashed a little,
   but the harder you paddle, the more apt you are to splash.
   Willie complained for the next six months about my throwing
   paddle water on him--mostly in jest, however.
 
        The second canoe campaign ride in which I was involved
   was two years later in '74, when I ran for a senate seat
   which included a large part of Sonoma County. Bob Trowbridge
   was a supporter of mine and donated his canoes to the cause
   once again. I was running against Bill McPherson, an attorney
   from Vallejo who lived in Napa County, a well-financed and
   articulate guy. It was looked on as being a 'Democratic Year'
   because of Watergate and we were pretty confident about
   winning, though working hard and not really taking anything
   for granted.

        When Janet and I joined the party at the beach after the
   canoe ride, we were sitting and saying hello to people as
   they came (floated) in, and I remember a lawyer/friend of
   ours climbing up the beach theatrically exaggerating his
   fatigue and saying to us, "I now know that Dunlap's Canoe
   Ride is McPherson's Secret Weapon." After 10 miles on the
   river and possibly turning over a few times he was fairly
   bedraggled; his forehead was covered with mud and he had a
   dazed look (which might have been part of his act, or due to
   the fact that he ordinarily wore glasses and had left them in
   some overhanging willow branches along the bank some miles
   back). 

        Most people were elated about the trip, though a couple
   of our older friends, actually no older than I except
   apparently in spirit, seemed to have been done in by it. 
   Trowbridge's brochures described it in rather idyllic
   language, without going into detail about possibly getting
   stuck on sandbar islands out in midriver, or toppled by cross
   -currents/rapids, or dragged under a bramble of overhanging
   willows/blackberry bushes. One couple had failed to plastic-
   bag their camera, and in addition had lost a paddle and were
   going to have to pay for it. Sunburn and exhaustion were not
   missing from the picture. That's part of "adventure", though.
   The '74 Canoe Day was also well-attended, and a memorable
   event for all, as a 'different' sort of political activity.

        The "countercultural" movement of the 60's cast waves
   which became more of a political force in the '70's,
   promoting a culture of its own (one which became to a degree
   part of the current mainstream). New ideas seemed to be in
   the air ("the answer, my friend, is Blowin' in the Wind"); at
   least they were more On The Air. "Humanism" became a term
   which had meaning to many people, from politicians to
   "working people" to students. Some students were a-political,
   and some were turned off to the point of not voting even
   after the 18 year old vote became effect in January of 1970.
   Others, however, found themselves aligned with liberal
   Democrats who shared their beliefs relative to personal
   freedom, environmental protection, and the Vietnam War. 
   Although Willie Brown wasn't what you'd call a
   "Humanist", he did have a leadership style involving a
   combination of humor and candor, which was appealingly --
   "human". I can remember on one occasion his making a strong
   pitch against a bill. Speaking to Doubting Thomas middle-of-
   the-roaders, he said, "Don't vote against this bill because
   Willie Brown says Vote No, vote against it because Bud
   Collier" (a conservative Republican on the Education
   committee) "is enthusiastically supporting it." This is the
   kind of thing Willie did, part of his style. He demeaned
   himself, acknowledging that others were suspicious of his
   openly liberal style, as if to say he too would be suspicious
   of Willie Brown if he didn't happen to BE Willie Brown. As he
   downplayed or demeaned himself, he played on their known
   distrust of a Bogeyman on the other side.

        Willie pioneered some educational legislation which
   recognized that children were people (promoting "Children's
   Rights"). He also authored the sexual freedom bill
   eliminating certain anachronistic (and "Human Rights"
   violating) sections of the California Penal Code which made
   felonies of certain private sexual acts.

        Jonathan Livingston Seagull--I remember Willie carrying
   the book around with him for a while. It had a "Human
   Potential" theme. A seagull is a bird that has
   limits...usually. I relate the book a little to Willie's own 
   ambition, or to his discovery of his unlimitedness (most of
   us don't find this out). I've described how he had it in the
   coffee room just off the Assembly floor and was showing it to
   people.

    
 excerpt from book
   or title page or cover
  
        I've used the term Humanist (or "Humanist Movement")
   without doing much to define it. Mostly it was not an
   organized force, but just something that happened. Partially
   it resulted from excesses of a dollar-driven lifestyle. My
   own contact with Humanism came about through my close
   friendship with John Vasconcellos, the fact that I couldn't
   help but learn something from my children, and from Janet's 
   activities as a psychology student at Sonoma State College--
   the hugging school--as she called it.

        When we were married, as I look back on it now, I was
   kind of a stuffed shirt pretending to be an intellectual. I
   tended to believe in political causes more than people. I had
   a lot to learn, some of which I learned from Janet.

        The great legislative bridge (in my experience) to
   students and Humanists and many other ideas from unusual
   sources was John Vasconcellos. John had friends on a number
   of college campuses, both students and teachers. In 1968 he
   organized a series of legislative tours of several colleges.
   I participated in those at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and SF
   State. These were some of his inroads to learning and change.
   John was (as I've mentioned) also close to Willie Brown and
   Bob Moretti, and without real Direction modified their
   tendency toward Authoritarianism (almost inevitable to come
   to the surface coincident with a lot of power).

        John was one of the first members of the Assembly I got
   to know. Between the election of November 1966 when we were
   both elected and our taking office in January of '67, the
   Assembly leadership conducted two lobbyist-financed trips.
   Newly-elected legislators from northern California toured
   southern California for about four days, and newly-elected So
   Cal legislators toured northern California. John (he
   represented the San Jose area in northern California) and I 
   were the only two democrats on the tour of L.A. and San
   Diego. We roomed together and got to know each other.
   Although he was ten years younger than I, I found him
   comfortable to be with and recognized we shared similar
   values. Of those I knew involved in the legislative process I
   admired most and felt closest to John. He 'evolved' in the
   job and grew personally. He had and still has (see his
   current website regarding "The Politics of Trust") an open
   personality. He speaks his thoughts and his feelings and
   listens to others, including their reactions to him. To
   associate with John is to grow and to help him grow. There is
   no choice.

        Originally I remember him as pretty religous, like
   showing up on the floor of the Assembly, dressed in his then
   usual conservative suit, on a day in March in 1967, with a
   big black smear on his forehead. I asked him what he had run
   into and he explained to me without embarrassment, "Ash
   Wednesday." From my agnostic viewpoint John then appeared to
   be an almost traditional catholic but that view changed, and
   he's now far from that. Both John and his religon changed
   over the years but it remains, I think, an important part of
   him.

        John is highly honest and conscientious. I remember us
   discussing running for reelection for only our second term.
   He said, "If we don't do more and can't do more for people
   I'm not sure I want to come back." In other years he said 
   similar things, but here we are in 2003 30 some years after 
   that first election, and John has been in continous sevice
   the entire time (I believe he has been doing 'More').

        Like Willie Brown John had his Un-Traditional side
   (and like Willie he appeared rather fearless). During part of
   the time we served in the legislature he took to dressing
   very casually, in a manner similar to a student taking a
   course in parapsychology. John was I think making a statement
   as to the stuffiness of our society (and the monotony of the
   business suit attire of his 'legislative fraternity'
   brothers) ...although it also fits that he was just "being
   himself" and dressing comfortably.



PICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


    
       The above picture shows John and I, and Professors
   Roland and Molina, with Governor Jerry Brown at a "bill
   signing" in 1977. I was the author of the bill prohibiting 
   the use of chloro-fluorocarbons as propellants in aerosol 
   cans. The professors had pioneered research establishing that
   these propellants were gradually destroying the protective
   ozone layer in our stratosphere. Later they were awarded
   Nobel Prizes in chemistry. John was co-author of my Senate
   bill, handling it in the Assembly.

        John's personal dress code ("no coat and tie") later got
   him in trouble with the hidebound Senate Rules Committee,
   which at one point refused to let him walk onto the floor of
   the senate to speak to a senator, a customary privilege which
   each house allowed members of the other. John retaliated for
   this insult by persuading the Assembly Ways and Means
   committee to table all Senate bills before it--this caused a
   stopping of all committee business, amid a general hullaballoo 
   which was finally resolved by the returning to him of his rights.
   John had  made his point.

    
        In 1975 John organized a weekend at the Esalen Institute
   (famed as the original home of "Sensitivity Training") at Big
   Sur, for some of his Capitol friends. It involved some
   Encounter Group types of things, and other things like nude
   co-ed hot tubs, and sharing personal and political problems
   on an intimate basis. 

        One Encounter Group technique was to challenge each
   other verbally in perhaps a very direct, or an experimental,
   way--another might be to wrestle: "let's see if we can hold
   this guy" (and he fights physically to get free). 

        I was in the Senate then--the others on the trip were
   either in the Assembly or otherwise closely connected to the
   Capitol crowd. I was the oldest of the group, the others my
   junior by ten years at least. Will Shutz, author of 'Joy' among
   other books, was our Facilitator. There was a sort of
   'confidentiality rule'--what you learned here was not for
   publication or outside discussion--issues of a sensitive
   nature were entrusted to the group only. For this reason I
   don't feel that even now I should discuss what went on as we
   traded thoughts, feelings, and sometimes challenged each
   other. It was a worthwhile experience and I think we all
   benefited. 

        The Esalen Weekend was an exhilarating and "different"
   experience for me. Without Vasconcellos's presence and
   inspiration it (and many other things too) never would have 
   happened. John was a bridge between ideas and between
   persons..a trellis or a footbridge possibly, but a bridge
   doesn't have to be the Golden Gate to be effective or
   important.
 
        If you asked John 'how are you', which is a common thing
   for people to ask without actual curiosity, John would be
   inclined to answer it, telling you what might be making him
   feel good or troubling him (he of course did this with some
   discretion).