All of this was Seattle’s version of the 1960s counterculture: a heady fusion of youth rebellion, artistic and personal experimentation, political radicalism and opposition to the war in Vietnam. It was quite a time to be new to the city: “That for me was an important introduction to a new life, having come from graduate school studying the humanities, mostly philosophy,” he says. “I then suddenly was involved in a communal life of hippies and strange dress and a great deal of fun. And of course intoxication, but not of beer so much, but of psychedelics, and enjoyed it all.”

Recalling my own early days in Seattle, I can’t help feeling a little bit envious. There was, when Paul arrived, the possibility for public life and politics to be creative and playful, as well as serious. It feels like that’s gone in today’s Seattle, maybe in today’s world. We’re all so busy: making money, hustling to keep our heads above the water, grappling with the big social problems. It all feels kind of severe. I try to convey this contrast to Paul. It takes a few tries. Finally: “You don’t have any Dada going around?” No, I say — allowing that maybe I’m just not in the right circles, though I don’t think that’s it. “Well I don’t know,” Paul says. “I’m not in any circle. I’m in the basement.”

Read More