Ken Kesey was an American writer, born on September 17, 1935, in La Junta, Colorado. He is best known for his novels "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Sometimes a Great Notion," with the latter being considered his magnum opus by many critics. Kesey was raised in Springfield, Oregon, where he developed a love for outdoor activities such as swimming, hunting, and fishing. He met his future wife, Norma "Faye" Haxby, in seventh grade, and they remained married until his death, having three children together.
Kesey attended the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and later won a scholarship to Stanford University, where he studied creative writing under Wallace Stegner. His early work included an unpublished novel, "ZOO," about the beatniks of San Francisco's North Beach community. During this time, Kesey began experimenting with drugs, becoming a prominent figure in the counterculture movement of the 1960s alongside Timothy Leary.
In the early 1960s, Kesey participated in experimental drug trials at a Veterans' Administration hospital in Menlo Park, California. These experiences, along with his time as a part-time aide at a psychiatric hospital and his use of LSD, inspired his groundbreaking novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The book, narrated by Chief Bromden, tells the story of petty criminal Randall Patrick McMurphy's attempts to challenge the oppressive bureaucracy of the mental institution run by Nurse Ratched.
Following the success of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Kesey published "Sometimes a Great Notion" in 1964, which was also adapted into a film. He then formed the Merry Pranksters, a group of counterculture figures that included Neal Cassady, and embarked on a cross-country bus trip, documented by Tom Wolfe in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." Kesey's experiences during this period, including his arrest for marijuana possession and subsequent flight to Mexico, informed his later works.
In the 1970s, Kesey returned to writing, publishing works such as "Kesey's Garage Sale," "Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear," "Sailor Song," and "Last Go Around." He also settled down in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, with his wife and four children, teaching a graduate writing seminar at the University of Oregon. Kesey passed away in 2001 due to complications from liver cancer surgery.