58 – The Hippie Years (Commune Life w/ Justin Starkweather)

We’ve finally arrived at the long-awaited Hippie Years episode in the 3-part series on Melody’s father Justin Starkweather. (Part 1 is Episode 44 and Part 2 is Episode 55.) Justin gives us the scoop on life in the late 60s/early 70s at Twin Oaks, a commune in rural Virginia, USA. He discusses commune life, the division of labor and how people lived. We talk sex, drugs and rock n roll, and a number of interesting accompanying characters. Of course, as in Justin’s other episodes, we encounter celebrities too – Patch Adams and Glenn Frey, to name a couple. There are also cockroaches, skinny dipping, giant snakes, yummy yeast, parties, and a lot of hard, hard work. Oh! And we finally learn the story of why Justin changed his name from John. What a guy; what a legend! Note: Melody’s recipe for Golden Gravy, recanted from memory, was a bit off – find the recipe here: https://www.food.com/recipe/golden-gravy-312205 If you would like to support the podcast, please subscribe, rate and review us (positively, pretty please) on your favourite podcast platform! Or head over to patreon.com/teachmetigerpodcast to throw us a couple bucks. We appreciate all of your love and support in whatever form it may take! <3