Correspondence #69: John Allen Cassady
Merry Prankster Babbs hits 90
Email, January 14th, 2026
Dear R&BG,
Born on January 14th, 1936, Ken Babbs turns 90 today.
I’m going to attend his Birthday Party today. It’s being held at ‘Whirled Pies’ in Eugene, Oregon. (A pie shop? Come on! It should be held at Autzen Stadium, where the ‘Grateful Ducks’ play! I mean, Ken is an ‘Original Prankster’!) Oh well.
Ken was a USMC helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam. I highly recommend that you read his book, Who Shot The Water Buffalo? from 2011. The New York Times said, ‘It blends humor and terror.’
Another ‘Must Read’ is On The Bus. Text by Paul Perry. Forewords by Jerry Garcia and Hunter S. Thompson. ‘Flashbacks’ by Ken Babbs.
So I was trying to decide what shirt to wear to the Event. (My Dad, Neal, gave me a lot of shirts). The ‘Referee’ shirt? The ‘Route 66’ shirt? Or the ‘White Stars on Blue’ shirt? My son, Jamie Neal, said, ‘Definitely the ‘Stars’ shirt. It’s “Very Jerry”.’ That’s My Boy!
So stay tuned for the Post Party update tomorrow. I’ll try to snap some photos on my cell phone.
So, let us all ‘Keep The Beat’,
Peace & Luv,
Johnny ‘Acid In The Pies?’ Cassady
this is sort of strange to me in that I met "Jack" Allen a few times in the 80s in Los Gatos, he went to high school with my pal...we never spoke of his lineage, he was a "normal" guy...no talk of being a musician or poet, etc..after we were acquainted a bit I asked him about his dad and he simply said that he did not really know him at all, "he was never home"...we mostly drank beers, no talk of any of this except maybe some Dead talk but now he is in line with his history and anecdotes, etc..but I never knew him well, I was aware of him, nobody talked about it...then again releatively few knew all this stuff back then...
I remember reading all the Beats back starting high school and early 20s and, outside of a couple of pals, nobody else knew or cared, I felt sort of isolated in my Beat appreciation
Fun writing! Thanks. And I'll look for his book now.