1983- NEW AGE gainesville - Premiere Issue

Finally, I got it . Instead of waiting for someone else to publish a new age newspaper for Gainesville, I realized I could do it myself. In fact, I felt Divinely inspired to do it. Since hardly anyone had a computer yet, I typed all the articles myself on an electric typewriter. It was truly hand-crafted and unless people had their own graphic, logo, or business card, all the ads had to be made by hand too. The whole process was exhilarating for me.

A project like this couldn't be done alone and I was blessed with the greatest people to play with. Dottie Zavada, Associate Editor; my husband Gordon Greenwood, Copy Editor; son Richard Greenwood, Art Director; Mary Masidonski, Advertising Manager; Lonnie Lockett, Distribution Manager; and Ronni Gardner, Consultant and Columnist.

Since I'm obviously on a nostalgia trip, I'll share the editorial I wrote for the Premiere Issue, May, 1983. Gordon and I celebrated our first anniversary that month. I still called myself Patti Normandy then, but that would change after awhile. So here's the editorial.

ANOTHER LINK IN THE NETWORK

     There is a new age and it is here and now. You live in it even if you have never heard of it. It is a transformation of consciousness happening all over the planet at once, driven by centers like Gainesville, Florida. An underground, of sorts, is coming out of the closet, into the light.

      Because it is "...continually being formed as it is being informed, the new age resists definition," according to Paul Hoffman, a Gainesville networker and publisher of Light Streams, a new age directory. It is a state of mind, a transformed attitude toward life as we experience a cultural and personal awakening. Some of us know about the new age because of experiences we have had that have changed our perception of what life is all about. Some of us are asking, "What do you mean when you say New Age?" For those of us who know, no answer is necessary. For those of us who are asking the question, no definition is satisfactory.

     As the consciousness changes, thousands of networks have formed to facilitate the shifting paradigms. "Transformative ideas also appear in the guise of health books and sports manuals, in advice on diet, business management, self-assertion, stress, relationships, and self-improvement," says Marilyn Ferguson in The Aquarian Conspiracy. These networks create mountains of magazines, directories, newsletters, and even directories of all these publications, such as Networking: The First Report and Directory, by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps. As we grow to feel the connection within ourselves, with each other, and with our planet, we reach out and link up in these boundless structures we call networks.

     There is a "NEW AGE gainesville" and it is peopled by consciousness revolutionaries sharing a positive attitude toward life. More of a parallel culture than a counter-culture, the new age speaks to our uniqueness as evolving beings and allows that the search for truth is an intensely personal quest. There is nothing to join and we represent no organization. This publication is a love offering, a means of sharing our selves with each other, to offer possibilities outside the mainstream for linking up with people and ideas, to share the new awareness of collective goals and planetary consciousness.

     We share a common vision of a positive future and a dream that if we somehow mobilize our energies for the good of our human family and our planet, we can reverse the trend toward adding humankind to the list of endangered species. We suggest alternatives. The choices are yours. We are one.

In love and light,

Patti Normandy

    

1983 - Out of the Closet

In 1983, we came out of the closet. Many of us who thought of ourselves as new-agers stopped “hiding our light under a bushel” and became more vocal about our beliefs. We stopped caring so much about being socially acceptable and started speaking out more about the issues close to our hearts. Many of us traveled spiritual paths that were still considered a little left of center and we stopped pretending. It was time to get real.

New age papers validated our growing awareness that it was indeed the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Our numbers swelled and we began to impact the local economy with our holistic businesses and our checkbooks.

I could write a book on 1983 alone but I won't. I'll give you the highlights here and go into more detail in another blog. Papers popped up everywhere, and not just in Gainesville.

Paul Hoffman’s The Last New Age Calendar appeared in stores in September, 1983. A month later the Gainesville Daily Planet entered the scene with LIBRE’s Dottie Zavada as “Publisher and Grand Sorceress.” Istvan compiled the local calendar, while Lee Glancey and Sharon Woodruff did the word processing. Oma, an entity channeled by Frankie Z. Avery, was the token non-human on the staff.

In May, 1983, while working as the office manager of a mainstream church, I launched a quarterly called New Age Gainesville, with the help of my husband, Gordon Greenwood, Dottie Zavada, Richard Greenwood, Lonnie Lockett, Ronni Gardner, and Mary Masidonski.

Michele Rippey wrote about “The Celebration”-- the first-ever event of its kind held in the downtown community plaza. Walter Busby and friends organized the day filled with love and light, laughter and letting go. It was highlighted by the absence of anything to buy.  In another blog, I've posted Michele's article with all the details of that special day.

New ads appeared: Reiki by Andy Weisberg, Soul Therapy by Alma Rose, Massage Therapy by Fay Young, Jere Herrington, and Olivia Stryker, and Peter Bensen’s Guild for Structural Psychosynthesis. We shopped for natural fibre clothes at Harmony and Lotus, and Spirit, and ate at New Harvest.

We had an abundance of groups to explore, including the A.R.E. Study Group focusing on Edgar Cayce’s teachings (Bob Scott), P’nai Or (Kabbalistic mystical tradition), Gurdjieff Reading Group (Brian Morgan), Humanist Society (Joe Courter, Iguana editor), ISKCON (Krishna Consciousness), and Kundalini Yoga (Sat Nam Singh Khalsa).

There was our long-lasting Seth Group at Royane and Ric Mosley's home, The Next Step (in Micanopy with Dr. David Saltzman), Science of Mind Study Group in Lake Butler (Vicky Woods), Self-Realization Fellowship (Paramahansa Yogananda teachings-Pam DeWitt), Sai Baba Satsang (Mike and Lee Glancey), and Yoga Center of Gainesville (Yogi Amrit Desai teachings).

We had the School of Tai Chi Chuan, Tai Chi Chuan for Women at Dragon Gate Studio, and Tai Chi Chuan Temple Style at LIBRE Center. 

We often met friends at a wonderful restaurant on SW 35th Boulevard in Butler Plaza called Cathay Tea House which was opened in 1976 by Genia Lee (Hines), who was born and raised in Taiwan. The food was exquisite and it was the only Chinese restaurant where we could get brown rice at the time. Genia's dream of publishing her own cookbook was realized in the 1980s with the release of  "The Cuisine of Cathay."

That reminded me of another old Gainesville restaurant, the Beef and Bottle at 5220 SW 13 Street, close to the northern border of Paines Prairie. It was a 520-seat restaurant with the first mega salad bar. It was popular for its live entertainment. It will be forever etched in my mind as the place where we saw a "new" entertainer for the first time who did this stand-up arrow-through-the-head routine--yup, the unknown was a very young and playful Steve Martin. One night he invited around 50 people from the audience to hide behind bushes on U.S. 441 while Steve hitchhiked at closing time. Every time a car stopped, the 50+ people jumped out and rushed the car. I guess you had to be there. I wasn't, but everyone at work was talking about it the next day.

The Beef and Bottle became the Brown Derby in 1977. It lasted until 1994 when it could no longer compete with the restaurants popping up all along Archer Road.

Please forgive me if I left you out. I didn’t even get to ask you if you were in the audience when they performed Hair: An American Tribal Love Rock Musical here. When was that trip back in time to the idealistic, psychedelic days of the 1960s anyway?

Light Streams and Amrit and LIBRE, Oh my!

In 1982, when hardly anyone owned an intimidating computer, Paul Hoffman borrowed a Radio Shack TRS-80 from Dottie Zavada and joyfully launched our first alternative directory, Light Streams, Gainesville DNA (Directory New Age). 

Leslie Rigg added her Osborne computer and before long they published the New Age Calendar. Were we surprised to discover that much more was happening here than we had ever imagined!

I couldn't be happier. Finally a new age directory of our very own! I just read on  Paul Hoffman's website that he intends to write about DNA-Gainesville  himself  so I'll leave that in his capable hands. Paul has been a world traveler, ending up in Gainesville before heading for California. He's been in the Berkeley area for quite a few years now. He is probably best known as the guy who makes and distributes  EarthSeals, stickers of the famous Apollo 17 shot of the whole earth from space. He has sold over 13 million of them in the last 20 years--by donation. Paul is so multi-talented he defies description. Check out his Facebook page to see what he's been up to. He's listed as Paul C. Hoffman.
His website is http://earthseals.com/ .

Another well-known person is our ForeverFriend, Walter Busby. He and my Gordon were friends and fellow professors in the College of Education at the University of Florida until they retired--Walter a Humanistic Psychologist and Gordon a Behaviorist. Walter had tremendous foresight when he introduced Gordon and me in 1979, and for that we will be forever grateful. I met Walter at the Temple of the Universe. He was there during the early days when Yogi Amrit Desai (Gurudev) spoke at the Temple. Phil Kairalla had encouraged me to go hear this very special guru, so I did, though I could never have anticipated what an impact it would have on my life. I was instantly blissed out by Gurudev's loving energy and all that shakti! I had never felt that kind of unconditional love before, except from my father who had made his transition into the Light in 1966. Fortunately for me, Walter was there to explain that what was happening to me was perfectly normal!

Walter has always hosted the most extraordinary parties that attracted an eclectic assortment of fascinating people. In the early '80s, his Renaissance Parties became famous for food, fun and finding spiritual friends. They lasted for years and everyone was welcome. There were about 200 people at the last one I remember. Walter also founded the Institute for Holistic Education and later organized United Spiritual Gainesville.

Around this time, Mother Earth’s only store at 521 NW 13th Street had a popular bulletin board informing us about places to go and people to see. It was becoming obvious--we were not alone in our expanding awareness.

The University hosted meetings on campus for the Friends of Whales, Advocates for the Moral Reevaluation of Animal Experimentation (AMRAE), and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Amnesty International met at the UF Law School. Holly Jensen was key in keeping us informed of the activities of all these groups.

Reality Kitchen opened downtown at 6 NE 1st Avenue. Their ad said "24 hours every day- Food -Music - Good Vibes." Jim Evangelist billed it as an art cooperative, phone messenger service, post office box, restaurant, coffeehouse, and community forum. Many of our musician friends played there--David Beede, Mark Madson, the Flash Silvermoon Band, and so many more. In 1984, The Archer Road Band had a one-night-only reunion gig featuring Bruce Shepard, Chaz Scales, Melvin Bunk, Kenny Shore, and Gary Gordon. (Thanks, Gary, for reminding me of this.)

Alternative schools flourished: Lotus Land School in Archer (Jeff Davis), Dayspring Waldorf School (Rolf Hummel) at 921 SW Depot Avenue, Loblolly Learning Community at 3315 NW 5th Avenue, and Flowers Montessori School at 3111 NW 31st Avenue.

The People to People Educational Network organized free, non-authoritarian classes without the stress of grades. The 1983 schedule included former Gainesvillians, UF Physics lecturer, Joe Rosenshien and Commissioner and entertainer, Gary Gordon.

Dottie Zavada launched the LIBRE/Mother Earth Center at 604 NW 13th Street, the old Mother Earth location. LIBRE stood for Life in Balance Research and Education. We heard talks there on dowsing by Neil Kaber, Traditional Chinese Medicine by David Bole, rebirthing by Dennis and Beverly (now called Baila) Scott, and meditation by Udaya Pherigo (Biff), Director of the Siddha Meditation Center at 1000 SW 9th Street. Dottie's been in the Mt. Shasta area for a long time but I'm happy to say we are still in touch. I'd love for her to write about LIBRE herself...

 
Back then we could get Rolfed by Marilyn Thursby, learn about nutrition from Renee Hoffinger Shuman (who was also a matchmaker), and be Rebirthed by Claudio Belfort. Marguerite Romeis had ongoing classes in psychic awareness (which she still has) and began hosting spiritual healers from outside of Gainesville. Jackie Tatum led a Course in Miracles group at Unity, back when they were at 1240 NW 21st Avenue. Dr. Robert Glazer, Director of the S. E. Center for Bioenergetic Analysis, and Dr. Dave Suchman, gestalt therapist, led a men’s group.



The multi-talented Ramesh Patel owned the Mandeer Restaurant at 808 W. University Avenue, where we could get amazing Indian vegetarian dinners. The Vegetarian Society met there for awhile. The Full Moon Buying Club, a food co-op, was very active and met monthly. Betty (later called Bahira) Sugarman and Paul Campbell led Arica Institute trainings. Bill Payne’s classes in Silva Mind Control were popular and Donald Pratt was the doing hypnosis long before it became popular.



The Florida School of Massage, with Lee Joseph, Director, moved from 1115 North Main Street to its then new location at 5408 NW 13th Street. Today they are at 6421 SW 13th Street.

Next blog: 1983 - The Celebration on the Downtown Plaza

The last LIST

A funny thing happened when I checked my blog this morning to edit the next installment. This one was never published after I edited it. Maybe it will show up somewhere else, maybe not. So much for keeping this in chronological order. Linear thinking is vastly over-rated anyway.

Issue #6 of the LIST took me to a natural food restaurant called The Magic Mushroom at 1800 NW 23rd Avenue. It was run by Gloria Brown and Scott Davis.


Paul Hoffman worked there when he first came to Gainesville in 1978, a few years before he published Gainesville's first new age directory. Paul once told me he remembers phoning Hazel Henderson to welcome her to Gainesville. We were excited about her choosing to live in Gainesville because she was a well-known futurist and had just been on the cover of New Age Journal.

There was a 1978 special edition of the LIST called Gainesville People's Pages #7. It cost a quarter. It included the first listing I've found for Mother Earth at 604 NW 13th Street. It was the first health food store I'd ever been in.


Under "Listings" there was another first mention, Flash Silvermoon, who offered Tarot & Astrology Readings, and lessons. Our late son, Joseph, was one of her tarot students who went on to be a great reader himself.  Joe often credited Flash for teaching and inspiring him. Flash arrived here from New York City in 1975 where she had started a Women's Cosmic Consciousness Raising Group and gave readings professionally. I could write a book about the amazing Flash and the good work she has done in our area!


An ad for Duck Stop used comics at 617 W. University reminded me that there were many places I never knew about. I married into a family of guys very much into comics. I'll have to ask if they shopped there.


When I grew up in Brooklyn, comics were big. The boys on the block bought Captain Marvel and Superman (which my mom would not allow me to read because, in her opinion, they were not for girls). The girls bought Pep comics to catch up with Archie and Friends, who were Betty and Veronica and the annoying friend, Reggie. I never could get into them. I only loved Mary Marvel, alias Mary (Batson) Bromfield, twin sister of Captain Marvel. When she arrived on the scene in 1942 in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Fawcett Publications, she was the closest thing to a heroine the comics offered little girls of my generation. Shazam! But I digress, again.

By 1980, Andy (Astra) Lopez had a Coconut Grove address. I never saw another copy of the LIST.


Years later I asked people for their earliest memory of any publication about anything holistic in Gainesville. Someone told me the first natural food newsletter was called Our Daily Bread, published around 1965 by a family who owned a store by the same name. In time, someone surprised me with an old issue they had saved to add to my growing collection.

Cathy DeWitt added, "Our Daily Bread was a great little store--kind of behind where Mother Earth is now--a lot of musicians hung out there, with occasional jams." Her comment is full of wonderful memories.


Around 1969-71 there was a "Free University" here but I'm not sure if that was its official name. Free classes without grades were held in people's homes and other free locations. Everyone was a teacher and a student and none of the teachers got paid. I remember Hank Gooch teaching a class in Love at my home once. I had taken his popular class at Santa Fe Community College called "Contemporary American Religions" that introduced me to Eastern religions, but that's another subject for a future blog.


In the '70s, devotees of Eastern gurus founded spiritual centers here that offered meditation, chanting, yoga, and other types of instruction. We had the Divine Light Mission (Guru Maharaj Ji), Gainesville Siddha Yoga Dham (Baba Muktananda), the Rajneesh Meditation Center, the Krishna Center, and groups that studied the teachings of Meher Baba and Paramahansa Yogananda, and later a Kripalu Yoga Center (Amrit Desai).

Mickey Singer's Temple of the Universe was already in nearby Hague where it is still a peaceful haven for spiritual seekers of all paths. My friend Mary Lee was watching my interests change and one day at work she told me she thought I was ready to read Mickey Singer's book and check out the Temple. By then, no longer a stranger in a strange new age land, I felt a strong need to meet like-minded people. I went, and it changed my life forever. I loved the meditation and chanting and Mickey's talks. After the Sunday services everyone gathered in a circle outside for tea and sharing. It took no time at all to realize I was a not solitary searching weirdo after all. I had found a spiritual home.


The Transcental Meditation Center was here early on at 1125 SW 2nd Avenue, and the Gainesville Zen Circle (Jan Sendzimir) was already meeting weekly for meditation, chanting, and lessons.


That's just a small sample of the '70s taken straight from the pages of our history books, the new age publications of that time. If this reads like a deja vu, it's because some of it is taken from a series of articles I wrote in 2001. In my incarnation as Patti Normandy, I wrote about this subject for The Lightworker: Gainesville's Visionary Network Paper, published by Cheri Stewart. Cheri was the owner of The Dream Zone store at 4000 Newberry Road.  

I apologize for not including so many people who were doing good work back then. Please know that I honor the work you did, and are still doing, and appreciate the part you played in holding the Light and bringing us to this place in history.