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Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
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Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
CHRIS SMITH
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | January 16, 2018,10:11PM
Artist Bill Wheeler, who 50 years ago welcomed free spirits onto a west Sonoma County commune that affronted country neighbors but also helped along the region’s tentative embrace of liberal politics and non-mainstream lifestyles, died early Tuesday morning at the remote Occidental-area ranch that remained his home. He was 77 and had braved Parkinson’s disease and other ailments.
From 1968 until the hippie habitations on the ranch were razed by the county in 1973, Wheeler presided over the exercise in spontaneous, simple, musical, stoned, off-the-grid, clothing-optional existence. The commune grew from the demise of Lou Gottlieb’s nearby Morningstar Ranch, also shut down by the county.
Wheeler Ranch became nationally known as an intentional alternative to uptight middle-class values and the daily grind. At its peak, about 400 people grew vegetables, toileted in holes and coexisted on the isolated, wooded, 320 acres off Coleman Valley Road.
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Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
I was born in 1961 in Manhattan but raised in Marin County. I am, at least in part, a cultural product of Bill Wheeler and the counter cultural movement of the 1960s.
Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
Does anyone know yet if, when, and where a memorial service might be held?
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Barry:
Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
I'm not sure, but I heard that will occur at the Wheeler Ranch annual Mayday event - May 1.
Bill is a legend. Also, a hero, for opening up his land to everyone in the '60s.
Robert
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
Does anyone know yet if, when, and where a memorial service might be held?
Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la La la la la la la
RIP Bill....
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
I was born in 1961 in Manhattan but raised in Marin County. I am, at least in part, a cultural product of Bill Wheeler and the counter cultural movement of the 1960s.
Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
Re: Bill Wheeler, founder of famed Sonoma County hippie commune, dies at 77
