Luce, Leary, and LSD, 1963–1965

In the early 1960s, Time and Life magazines gave extensive celebrity coverage to Timothy Leary, a Harvard psychologist fired for drug experimentation. Reporters treated Leary with skepticism but allowed him to explain LSD, relying on his scholarship and wit. Journalists often accepted Leary's conclusions about the drug experience while condemning his encouragement of drug use. Time and Life were especially protective of LSD and hopeful it could be productively used by ordinary people.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter details the celebrity coverage of Timothy Leary in the early 1960s and interest in LSD at Time and Life, where the publisher Henry Luce was becoming increasingly outspoken about his interest in the drug. Reporters often treated Leary—a Harvard psychologist removed from his job as a result of drug experimentation—with skepticism while still permitting him to explain the LSD phenomenon and relying on his scholarship and wit. Journalists were often surprisingly accepting of Leary's conclusions about the drug experience, even while condemning his encouragement of drug use. Among the many magazines focusing attention on LSD, Time and Life were particularly protective of the technology and hopeful that it could be productively used by regular people.