Before 1960's counter-cultural icon Timothy Leary died in 1996, he knew that one of the tools that could keep him immortal to future generations was computer technology, or more specifically, the internet. It's a little over a decade later and it looks like his dream may come to fruition in a way that could make him even more influential than he ever was in life.
The Timothy Leary estate is currently seeking donations to have his archives completely digitized and uploaded to the world wide web. With over 500,000 typed documents, including hundreds of letters from luminaries such as Allan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Aldous Huxley and Abbie Hoffman, as well as documents from his Harvard research and hundreds of hours worth of audio and video footage, the project is proving to be a huge undertaking, and probably the first of its kind. Not only will it please Leary fans who wish to know every possible known facet of his life, it would provide the history of the entire psychedelic movement.
According to the estate, the newly planned site would be completely searchable and indexed, and that "Dr. Leary had this dream before most people even knew what the internet was, or how important it would become."
Despite being known as a distinctly 60's figure, Leary was a leading proponent in moving people towards the future with technology. In a 1995 interview posted on EcoMall.com, Leary said, "In the 1980's, of course, an incredible event happened which changed American culture--a new media developed. Radio developed as a new media in the twenties and created the jazz age and a changed America and of course television changed America by bringing the world into our living room. But it was all passive. The problem with the sixties, the problem with television watching, is it's passive consumption... But in the 1980's an incredible technological advance happened in media--computers--YOU could change what's on your screen."
As the internet developed and became more mainstream in 90's, Leary took to it immediately, and may have even been one of the first bloggers as he documented his declining health nearly daily.
The amount of bandwidth needed for a massive Timothy Leary archive isn't cheap; however, and donations can be made here to actualize the groundbreaking project.
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