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Nazis and Nudists
Like many baby boomers, David Haldane got swept into the turbulence of the late 1960s and early '70s, first as a radical activist and then a writer for an underground newspaper. Eventually, after self-imposed exiles in Europe and Mexico, he married, started a family and graduated to a significant position in mainstream journalism from which he chronicled many of the events that shaped an era. But Haldane always longed for something more, a "green leafy space" in which he could feel at peace. Finally, after a painful divorce, he found it in an unconventional way; with a dark-haired woman met on the Internet and wooed on the exotic islands of the Philippines. Nazis and Nudists is a series of poignant - and sometimes humorous - essays recounting that long journey. It is a story of love lost and love found. More importantly, it is about the lifelong spiritual quest for a place to call home.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
193 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2015
48 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
David Haldane
11 books7 followersDavid Haldane’s career in journalism has spanned more than four decades, beginning as an underground reporter for the Berkeley BARB and culminating in twenty-three years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer. Currently he lives in Joshua Tree, California, where he writes magazine articles and books. His work has appeared in many publications worldwide including Los Angeles Times Magazine, Orange Coast, Islands, Penthouse and Salon. It has been anthologized in two previous books.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 31, 2022
It was a dark and stormy day; the rain fell in torrents, and I sat on the couch and read from dawn to dust with my dog by my side, a dog who thought that I could protect her for the thunderous clapping that was going on outside. And this is the book I read.
It was an easy and fun read, and no, it really wasn’t about Nazis and nudists. It was about Dave’s journey in life as a journalist for the Berkeley Barb and then later the LA Times. He interviewed a Nazis group and joined a nudist group for a while, and that was all.
It was also about his college years at Goddard, and seeing the Weatherman that went to the college there. Dave was a radical; now he says he is a conservative. I was apolitical when I met Dave in Berkeley; now I am a liberal, left wing. Think Che. Dave thought about Che, how people in Berkeley loved him in the 60s. I like Che, but not back then as I didn’t know about him when I lived there. I was busy studying for exams and writing term papers. I wondered why Dave only mentioned Che is his book but never traipsed into the jungle to interview him; instead he interviewed many nut cases, even some that were famous.
Dave lived in Channing House, a rooming house in Berkeley, and I had the room across the hall from him. We dated. But he never wrote about the people he knew there. I think about them and wonder what happened to them: Jenny who played the piano. Gary Green the Tibetan Buddhist. Gary Pickler, who I became friends with and remained so even after I had moved away, until one day I called his home, and his phone had been disconnected. I had a friend who knew him too, and she had not heard from him. I will never know what had happened to him. Then there was the pot smoking handsome man named Lon. When he moved out a few of us went into his room to see what he had left. Paraphernalia. One of the roomers took it to their room, but he came back asking for it. It was handed over. Then there was Larry Andrews, who wanted to become a writer. When he moved out, we walked into his room, and on the walls, in big red magic markers, he had scribbled famous and not famous quotes from the authors he had read and who knows where else he got the quotes. I wrote them down and saved them in my journal. One was supposedly a quote from him:
“Men are like dust.
Cowards, as it were;
When the wind blows
they are gone.” ~~Dostoyevsky
“Like a man I weep
Like a god I laugh.” ~~Lawrence Andrews
“Hippy. n. A small projection in which mammary ducts terminate in mammory of either sex.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary
Dave went to Mexico and wrote a couple of stories in this book about his dangerous adventures. I wanted to read more of his adventures about Mexico, but he was in San Miguel de Allende taking writing courses and not there to have adventures of a dangerous nature. When he wrote me letters it was about getting turista from the food he was eating, discriptions of the town, how he met a woman, and how he wanted me to come visit. I never went down to see him.
He came home and married a woman named Dawn. I am not sure how long their marriage lasted, but I remember his writing to me saying after their divorce, “I am now looking for love in all the wrong places.” He then married a woman from the Philippines, but that didn’t go so well; Not giving up, he remarried another woman that he had met online. He took a trip to the Philippines to meet her and her family. I liked this story in the book---another adventure. He married her, and now they plan to live in the Philippines. I wish them the best.
But you never really get Berkeley out of your skin. People move away and return. Dave came back for one last look at Berkeley in 2004. He’ll probably go back in another 10 years I went back in the mid 90s with my husband. We sat in the Med Café on Telegraph Avenue where I used to hang out once in a while. Everything had changed except, as my husband put it, “This is a crazy town.” He should have seen it back in the 60s and 70s.
It was an easy and fun read, and no, it really wasn’t about Nazis and nudists. It was about Dave’s journey in life as a journalist for the Berkeley Barb and then later the LA Times. He interviewed a Nazis group and joined a nudist group for a while, and that was all.
It was also about his college years at Goddard, and seeing the Weatherman that went to the college there. Dave was a radical; now he says he is a conservative. I was apolitical when I met Dave in Berkeley; now I am a liberal, left wing. Think Che. Dave thought about Che, how people in Berkeley loved him in the 60s. I like Che, but not back then as I didn’t know about him when I lived there. I was busy studying for exams and writing term papers. I wondered why Dave only mentioned Che is his book but never traipsed into the jungle to interview him; instead he interviewed many nut cases, even some that were famous.
Dave lived in Channing House, a rooming house in Berkeley, and I had the room across the hall from him. We dated. But he never wrote about the people he knew there. I think about them and wonder what happened to them: Jenny who played the piano. Gary Green the Tibetan Buddhist. Gary Pickler, who I became friends with and remained so even after I had moved away, until one day I called his home, and his phone had been disconnected. I had a friend who knew him too, and she had not heard from him. I will never know what had happened to him. Then there was the pot smoking handsome man named Lon. When he moved out a few of us went into his room to see what he had left. Paraphernalia. One of the roomers took it to their room, but he came back asking for it. It was handed over. Then there was Larry Andrews, who wanted to become a writer. When he moved out, we walked into his room, and on the walls, in big red magic markers, he had scribbled famous and not famous quotes from the authors he had read and who knows where else he got the quotes. I wrote them down and saved them in my journal. One was supposedly a quote from him:
“Men are like dust.
Cowards, as it were;
When the wind blows
they are gone.” ~~Dostoyevsky
“Like a man I weep
Like a god I laugh.” ~~Lawrence Andrews
“Hippy. n. A small projection in which mammary ducts terminate in mammory of either sex.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary
Dave went to Mexico and wrote a couple of stories in this book about his dangerous adventures. I wanted to read more of his adventures about Mexico, but he was in San Miguel de Allende taking writing courses and not there to have adventures of a dangerous nature. When he wrote me letters it was about getting turista from the food he was eating, discriptions of the town, how he met a woman, and how he wanted me to come visit. I never went down to see him.
He came home and married a woman named Dawn. I am not sure how long their marriage lasted, but I remember his writing to me saying after their divorce, “I am now looking for love in all the wrong places.” He then married a woman from the Philippines, but that didn’t go so well; Not giving up, he remarried another woman that he had met online. He took a trip to the Philippines to meet her and her family. I liked this story in the book---another adventure. He married her, and now they plan to live in the Philippines. I wish them the best.
But you never really get Berkeley out of your skin. People move away and return. Dave came back for one last look at Berkeley in 2004. He’ll probably go back in another 10 years I went back in the mid 90s with my husband. We sat in the Med Café on Telegraph Avenue where I used to hang out once in a while. Everything had changed except, as my husband put it, “This is a crazy town.” He should have seen it back in the 60s and 70s.
October 14, 2015
David Haldane’s “Nazis & Nudists” is one of the more interesting and insightful books about the ‘60s and its aftermath that I’ve ever read. Haldane, a former “Los Angeles Times” reporter, takes the reader on a journey through the turbulent decade with stops along the way in radical Berkeley, a Greek island colonized by drug-addled hippies and wannabe revolutionaries in a nudist dorm at Goddard College in Vermont. Iconic figures such as Timothy Leary, Charlie Manson and the Black Panthers make appearances in this colorful, gripping tome.
Through his rich, detailed and vibrant telling of his personal “trip,” Haldane captures one of the most unique periods in American history, a time when anything and everything seemed possible.
Then the hangover. As American involvement in the Vietnam War waned and the would-be revolutionaries graduated to jobs, mortgages and families, everything changed nearly as quickly as it all began. In a particularly poignant scene in the early 1970s, Haldane’s editor at the “Berkeley BARB” tells him that the dream is over. And so it was.
But Haldane, thankfully, was only getting started. The book, which takes the reader up to the present day, ends with him finally finding “home” in the loving arms of his much younger Filipina wife, the mother of their son. Through his memoir, Haldane shows that we’re all on a quest for spiritual and emotional fulfillment. I’m happy that late in life he has finally found his bliss.
As a reader (and editor) of this engaging and edifying work, I feel like I have too. I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the ‘60s, terrific writing and great storytelling.
Through his rich, detailed and vibrant telling of his personal “trip,” Haldane captures one of the most unique periods in American history, a time when anything and everything seemed possible.
Then the hangover. As American involvement in the Vietnam War waned and the would-be revolutionaries graduated to jobs, mortgages and families, everything changed nearly as quickly as it all began. In a particularly poignant scene in the early 1970s, Haldane’s editor at the “Berkeley BARB” tells him that the dream is over. And so it was.
But Haldane, thankfully, was only getting started. The book, which takes the reader up to the present day, ends with him finally finding “home” in the loving arms of his much younger Filipina wife, the mother of their son. Through his memoir, Haldane shows that we’re all on a quest for spiritual and emotional fulfillment. I’m happy that late in life he has finally found his bliss.
As a reader (and editor) of this engaging and edifying work, I feel like I have too. I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the ‘60s, terrific writing and great storytelling.
May 29, 2018
I really liked the early chapters, talking about his direct experiences with the sixties in a way that just showed what happened rather than tried to give it some over explained philosophical meaning. That's a journalism thing: just say what happened. Some interesting things happened. I wasn't much into the last couple of chapters. I get the connection (all parts of a life), but I feel like the people he met were more interesting than the stuff about his marriages (no offense, David). Loved the part about searching for Neil Cassidy's ghost.
March 27, 2018
An Enjoyable and Quick Read
Having lived through the times he describes, though not the locations, it felt like a reminiscence of some of my own experiences. It was an enjoyable book which I read in a day.
Having lived through the times he describes, though not the locations, it felt like a reminiscence of some of my own experiences. It was an enjoyable book which I read in a day.
January 31, 2017
I should have enjoyed this, but somehow, I didn't. Somehow he managed to take the experience of living through some of the most amazing parts of the Sixties and make it pedestrian.
May 6, 2020
Very enjoyable read!
Totally related to David's story having lived through the same time period. His experiences in the counter culture, LA life, back packed travels in Europe are hilarious. Then to end up in the Philippines with his dream equals a life well lived. Descriptive and colorful, well worth reading.
Totally related to David's story having lived through the same time period. His experiences in the counter culture, LA life, back packed travels in Europe are hilarious. Then to end up in the Philippines with his dream equals a life well lived. Descriptive and colorful, well worth reading.
December 26, 2019
Picked this book at random.
This book is full of self-aggrandisement and is oozing with sleaze. After reading this book I wanted to take a shower. I hope ill never get to meet David Haldane in real life.
This book is full of self-aggrandisement and is oozing with sleaze. After reading this book I wanted to take a shower. I hope ill never get to meet David Haldane in real life.
October 31, 2021
The Amazing Life of a LA Times reporter.
A fantastic read. He has had an amazing life with huge ups and downs. Most importantly, he is open about the mistakes he made, and how they affected both him and those around him.
A fantastic read. He has had an amazing life with huge ups and downs. Most importantly, he is open about the mistakes he made, and how they affected both him and those around him.
June 26, 2018
Starts Interesting Then Slows
The early chapters are very diverse and interesting, but the stories slow when he meets his wife to be. Good read but lost interest toward the end.
The early chapters are very diverse and interesting, but the stories slow when he meets his wife to be. Good read but lost interest toward the end.
December 13, 2018
The first 10% of this book is quite good. But the rest is self-indulgent drivel.
April 19, 2016
(request submitted by author for an honest critique)
David sure has lived an eventful life and it's not over yet. I wonder what other adventures are in store for him. So far, he has traveled all over the world (ex. Germany, Mexico, Greece and Philippines). He's met the most interesting people (ex. Walt Disney and Arnold Schwarzenegger). He's also participated in antiwar demonstrations, worked at The LA Times, and been married more than once. Folks, that's not everything he's lived through.
Compared to his life, mine seems rather low key which is mighty fine in my book.
Ladies and gents, if you like biographies/memoirs, then pick up Nazis and Nudists. If nothing else, it'll be a great conversation starter when your friends ask what you are reading. I mean, who could pass up asking follow-up questions after hearing this title. :)
(See more reviews/ratings at www.superkambrook.com)
David sure has lived an eventful life and it's not over yet. I wonder what other adventures are in store for him. So far, he has traveled all over the world (ex. Germany, Mexico, Greece and Philippines). He's met the most interesting people (ex. Walt Disney and Arnold Schwarzenegger). He's also participated in antiwar demonstrations, worked at The LA Times, and been married more than once. Folks, that's not everything he's lived through.
Compared to his life, mine seems rather low key which is mighty fine in my book.
Ladies and gents, if you like biographies/memoirs, then pick up Nazis and Nudists. If nothing else, it'll be a great conversation starter when your friends ask what you are reading. I mean, who could pass up asking follow-up questions after hearing this title. :)
(See more reviews/ratings at www.superkambrook.com)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews