Ken Kesey time line

Ken Kesey time line

November 11, 2001

Author Ken Kesey died Saturday at age 66. Here's a look at his life and accomplishments:

1935: Born in La Junta, Colo.

1943: Moved to Springfield

1956: Married Faye Haxby

1958: Graduated from the University of Oregon

1959-61: Attended Stanford University and studied with Wallace Stegner

1960-61: Volunteered for government drug experiments at a Veterans Administration Hospital

1962: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" published

1964: "Sometimes a Great Notion" published

1964: Traveled cross-country in a bus with a group of friends who called themselves the Merry Pranksters

1965-67: Marijuana possession arrest leads to a lengthy court battle. He served 90 days in jail

1968: Moved to his Pleasant Hill farm. Tom Wolfe's book about the 1964 bus trip, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," published

1973: "Garage Sale," a collection of essays, published

1974: He organized one of the state's first televised referendums on local and statewide issues

1975: The film version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" won best picture, director, actor and actress

1984: His son, Jed, died in a van wreck while traveling with the University of Oregon wrestling team

1986: "Demon Box," a collection of essays, stories, poems and memories, published

1987: Taught creative writing class at the UO

1989: Novel, "Caverns," co-written with UO writing students, published under the name OU Levon; backward, it spells UO Novel

1990: Children's book, "Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear," published

1991: Children's book, "Sea Lion," published. Los Angeles Times honors him with its Robert Kirsh Award

1992: Novel "Sailor Song" published. Kesey learned that he had diabetes

1994: "Last Go Round," a historical novel set in 1911 and based on the first Pendleton Round-Up, is published

1997: Suffered a small stroke

Nov. 10, 2001: Kesey died at 4:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Medical Center

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