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Hippie at Heart: What I Used To Be, I Still Am
What was she to do stuck in Mexico, Nick’s body interned in a coroner’s seamy examination room? When her husband died the day after their 30th wedding anniversary, Anne had to employ every ounce of fortitude and cunning greasing the wheels of corruption to obtain release of her beloved. Hippie at Heart (What I Used To Be, I Still Am) follows Anne’s 50’s childhood continuing through the tumultuous 60’s and 70’s. Two years stoned on pot, with side trips of acid, mescaline, opium, and peyote, following the pied piper of rock concerts and free love, took its toll. ‘Back to the land,' a 60’s mantra, led Nick and Anne to the untamed mountains of northern New Mexico. With 8 other families in community they lived on ‘The Mesa,' 17 miles from civilization. No phone. No running water. No electricity. When daughter, Zelda, was born in their log cabin responsibility for another human being quickly changed the trajectory. Unfolding over five decades of love and survival, concealing the mysterious cause of Nick’s death until the final pages, Hippie at Heart is a personal and yet universal journey.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 24, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 19, 2020
On a 30th anniversary trip to Mexico, her beloved husband dies on a beach of an apparent heart attack. That's an opening frame in this memoir of discovery in her home state of Minnesota. As many youth in the sixties, she finds escape in a variety of drugs readily available then and well into the seventies and beyond. Miraculously, she encounters the love of her life in that world.
The title exemplifies the life the author and the man who would become her husband led for some time--the counterculture rejection of the staid life normal parents led. I didn't go quite so far as they did--building a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Yet, I can identify. Especially in the rejection of the traditional cultural and political values. The two found a very different spiritual path than I did--one I could never in my wildest nightmares have adopted. One so far from the drug culture that they had been a part of. Still, you will find that--and their eventual departure from it, a very intriguing journey.
If you can't find this book engrossing, you must be from a very different place. Not just a time, but a culture. It's well-written and should keep you wanting to know what happens next. Despite knowing the end, it's how Zotalis gets there that is where the rich tapestry of this story lies.
Oddly enough, we might have met decades ago--or at least been at the same Zappa and the Mothers concert in the Depot, a former bus depot that briefly became a club for music and dance in Minneapolis in 1970-71. We might have been neighbors in South Minneapolis as well--hard to say. But then, those girls in their early twenties and guys as well had certain features in common--long hair on both, freak or hippie styled clothes and beards on the guys.
The title exemplifies the life the author and the man who would become her husband led for some time--the counterculture rejection of the staid life normal parents led. I didn't go quite so far as they did--building a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Yet, I can identify. Especially in the rejection of the traditional cultural and political values. The two found a very different spiritual path than I did--one I could never in my wildest nightmares have adopted. One so far from the drug culture that they had been a part of. Still, you will find that--and their eventual departure from it, a very intriguing journey.
If you can't find this book engrossing, you must be from a very different place. Not just a time, but a culture. It's well-written and should keep you wanting to know what happens next. Despite knowing the end, it's how Zotalis gets there that is where the rich tapestry of this story lies.
Oddly enough, we might have met decades ago--or at least been at the same Zappa and the Mothers concert in the Depot, a former bus depot that briefly became a club for music and dance in Minneapolis in 1970-71. We might have been neighbors in South Minneapolis as well--hard to say. But then, those girls in their early twenties and guys as well had certain features in common--long hair on both, freak or hippie styled clothes and beards on the guys.
September 11, 2020
This book took me back to three decades starting with the 60’s. What a testament to those of us who grew up in that era. We were tuff, curious and fun. So is the book!! Lynn reminds me of who I was, and how I got to who I am now. A book of life, laughter, healing and tragedy. As the commercial said in the 60’s, “try it you’ll like it”. Happy reading.
November 18, 2020
This book is a story of growing up in the50’s,60’s, 70’s and beyond. Lynne writes with humor and brutal honesty in a way that keeps you wanting more. It’s truly a love story that continues through her journey. A must read!
January 29, 2022
Compelling
A compelling memoir, rich in time and place. For anyone who lived through the "movement" it is a memory of what was loved, lost and gained.
A compelling memoir, rich in time and place. For anyone who lived through the "movement" it is a memory of what was loved, lost and gained.
November 14, 2023
"Hippie at Heart: What I Used To Be, I Still Am" written by the author Lynne Zotalis is an engaging memoir. Anne is the daughter of Jack and Edith. She was named Anne after her grandmother Lydia Anne. The initial few chapters are about Anne's childhood life. Anne along with her husband Nick have raised their four kids well. They did everything in their power to make their children successful. Anne and Nick decided to have an extravagant fling for their thirtieth anniversary.
They went to Mexico for their thirtieth anniversary. From Nick's autopsy report, Anne found out that there was salt water in his lungs and he died from drowning. Anne got the clearance to transport Nick's body home. She faced the obstacle related to Nick's death certificate. She was asked to approve of the death certificate mentioning that Nick died of a heart attack. After Nick passed away, Anne didn't feel whole. She tried to stay strong for her children as she doesn't want to give them a trauma of their mother's suicide. Read this book to know how Nick and Anne's bond grew stronger over their thirty years of married life. Reading about the hippie life was astonishing. Anne had connections to dealers in Arizona, California and Colorado. She along with Nick was able to buy kilos of pot cheaply. The hippie life and adventures that the author has shared in this book opened a new world to me.
Those who are fans of creative nonfiction should definitely get their hands on this book. I appreciate the writing style of the author. The cover photo is nice and the storyline is intriguing. The title of the book couldn't have been better than this. It is a gripping read. This book took me on the rollercoaster ride full of different emotions.
They went to Mexico for their thirtieth anniversary. From Nick's autopsy report, Anne found out that there was salt water in his lungs and he died from drowning. Anne got the clearance to transport Nick's body home. She faced the obstacle related to Nick's death certificate. She was asked to approve of the death certificate mentioning that Nick died of a heart attack. After Nick passed away, Anne didn't feel whole. She tried to stay strong for her children as she doesn't want to give them a trauma of their mother's suicide. Read this book to know how Nick and Anne's bond grew stronger over their thirty years of married life. Reading about the hippie life was astonishing. Anne had connections to dealers in Arizona, California and Colorado. She along with Nick was able to buy kilos of pot cheaply. The hippie life and adventures that the author has shared in this book opened a new world to me.
Those who are fans of creative nonfiction should definitely get their hands on this book. I appreciate the writing style of the author. The cover photo is nice and the storyline is intriguing. The title of the book couldn't have been better than this. It is a gripping read. This book took me on the rollercoaster ride full of different emotions.
May 15, 2022
Page turning memoir of a baby boomer graduating high school in the tumultous sixties, becoming a full fledged hippie, and living off the land. If you also grew up in that time there is much to identify with whatever path you took. I found Lynne's journey suspenseful, compelling, heartbreaking, and insightful. This book touches on so much of those times, drugs, rock n roll, sex, home birthing, living in communal minded communities, christian fundamentalism, and underlying it all a continuous love story you can only admire for how complete it is. Well wiritten with believable dialogue and descriptive visuals.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews