Heading:
Author: Manson, Charles
Title: “An Open Letter to Tim Leary”
Place Published: [n.p.]
Publisher:
Date Published: [c. October 1970]
Description:

Comprises:

• 3 pp. Typescript on recto only, single-spaced, addressed to “General Tim Leary (Sunstone)” with typed signature “Manson.” With hand corrections and editorial markings, twice folded with original staple. About 1400 words. Undated but late Sept. or early Oct. 1970.
• Handwritten letter from devoted follower Lynette (“Squeaky”) Fromme to Leary in Switzerland after his prison escape, enclosing the Manson letter, with original mailing envelope postmarked LA, Oct. 1971. She talks about his ongoing second trial, her beliefs, her devotion to Manson, the coming apocalypse, and the vigil of the “Manson Girls” in highly personal terms. About 200 words, with a photocopy of a Manson girl (Fromme?) with shaved head, an ancient casket, and 15 lines of type (“[People] ask us why we sit on this corner day after day, why we’ve sat here for over a year”). The letter was likely smuggled out of the jail where Manson was kept during the trial.

The Manson letter was printed on the front page of the Oct. 9, 1970 LA Free Press as “An Open Letter to Tim Leary” and widely reprinted in the underground press. It expresses the imprisoned Manson’s reaction to news of Leary’s new militant revolutionary political stance, revealed a few weeks after his Weatherman-engineered prison escape. “So I hear your call to arms to face the fierce mad dog of suppression…I had my turn, now it’s yours….” Photocopy of printed version is included.

The Manson typescript has every indication of being a carbon copy of the actual letter he wrote in prison, but most likely typed from his handwriting by someone else, as Manson was not known to type. There are a few ink corrections; people familiar with Manson’s handwriting do not believe they are in his hand. At any rate, they were added later, as were the red paragraph marks (perhaps with re-publication in mind), as the LA Free Press did not edit the text but printed it directly from the uncorrected typescript in a single paragraph. There is a small hole in the left margins of all three sheets that suggests the sheets were pinned down during the typing or printing process. Provenance: Acquired from Timothy Leary.

 

Original folds, some general light wear; generally near fine.