Editing Timothy Leary (section)

== Post-prison ==
On April 21, 1976, Governor [[Jerry Brown]] released Leary from prison. After briefly relocating to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], with Harcourt-Smith under the auspices of the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program]], the couple separated in early 1977.

Leary then moved to the [[Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles|Laurel Canyon]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles]], where he resided for the rest of his life. Unable to secure a conventional academic, research, or clinical appointment due to his reputation, he continued to publish books through the independent press while maintaining an [[upper middle class]] lifestyle by making paid appearances at colleges and nightclubs as a self-described "stand-up philosopher".{{sfnp|Higgs|2006|p=256}} In 1978, he married filmmaker Barbara Blum, also known as Barbara Chase, sister of actress [[Tanya Roberts]]. He adopted Blum's young son Zachary and raised him as his own. He also took on several godchildren, including Winona Ryder (the daughter of his archivist [[Michael D. Horowitz|Michael Horowitz]]) and technologist [[Joi Ito]].{{sfnp|Leary|Horowitz|Marshall|1994|pp=72-73}}<ref>The Godparent: Conversation with Winona Ryder</ref><ref>{{cite web| title = It's All Happening Poscast 36, Joi Ito Interview| publisher = It's All Happening| date = 2016| url = http://itsallhappeningshow.com/index.php/2016/04/08/episode-36-joi-ito/| access-date = May 25, 2016| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160513010012/http://itsallhappeningshow.com/index.php/2016/04/08/episode-36-joi-ito/| archive-date = May 13, 2016}} 'Joi was an integral part of my formative years...he was my dad's Godson....' - Zachary Leary.</ref>

Leary developed an improbable partnership with former Millbrook-era foe G. Gordon Liddy, the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] burglar and conservative radio talk-show host. They toured the lecture circuit in 1982 as ex-cons debating a range of issues, including [[gay rights]], [[abortion]], [[welfare spending|welfare]] and the environment. Leary generally espoused [[left-wing]] views, while Liddy generally espoused [[right-wing]] perspectives. The tour generated massive publicity and considerable funds for both. The 1983 documentary ''[[Return Engagement (1983 film)|Return Engagement]]'' chronicled the tour and the release of ''[[Flashbacks (book)|Flashbacks]]'', Leary's long-germinating memoir; biographer Robert Greenfield has since asserted that much of what Leary "reported as fact in ''Flashbacks'' is pure fantasy."{{sfnp|Greenfield|2006|p=186}}

On September 25, 1988, Leary held a fundraiser for [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] presidential candidate [[Ron Paul]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vXq4eZQfOY?t=56m27s Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson.] Los Angeles (1988)
:: "On the 25th of September we're going to have, in the room upstairs, a bone fide candidate for the President of the United States. The Libertarian Party, he's running, a man, for president... his name is Ron Paul. Many of you are probably closet [[Libertarianism|Libertarians]]..." ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vXq4eZQfOY?t=56m27s @ 56:27])</ref><ref>Caldwell, Christopher (July 22, 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161116022424/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22Paul-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "The Antiwar, Pro-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul."] ''[[New York Times]]''. Archived from [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22Paul-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all the original.]</ref><ref>[[Nick Gillespie|Gillespie, Nick]] (December 9, 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161225010951/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-ron-paul/2011/12/07/gIQAu3vOiO_print.html "Five Myths About Ron Paul."] ''[[Washington Post]]''. Archived from [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-ron-paul/2011/12/07/gIQAu3vOiO_print.html the original.]</ref> Journalist Debra Saunders attended and wrote about her experience.<ref>Saunders, Debra. [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/12/22/ron_paul_turn_on_tune_in_drop_out_112495.html "Ron Paul: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out."] ''[[Real Clear Politics]]'' (December 22, 2011). Archived from [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/12/22/ron_paul_turn_on_tune_in_drop_out_112495.html the original.]</ref>

Leary's extensive touring on the lecture circuit continued to ensure his family a comfortable lifestyle throughout the mid-1980s. He associated with a variety of cultural figures, including longtime interlocutors [[Robert Anton Wilson]] and Allen Ginsberg; science fiction writers [[William Gibson]] and [[Norman Spinrad]]; and rock musicians [[David Byrne (musician)|David Byrne]] and [[John Frusciante]].{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} In addition, he appeared in [[Johnny Depp]]'s and [[Gibby Haynes]]'s 1994 film [[Stuff (film)|''Stuff'']], which chronicled Frusciante's squalid living conditions at that time.<ref>{{cite web| title = Stuff| publisher = Invisible Movement| date = 2014| url = http://invisible-movement.net/release/stuff| access-date = May 25, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160927095532/http://invisible-movement.net/release/stuff| archive-date = September 27, 2016| url-status = live}}</ref>

Leary continued to take a wide array of drugs (ranging from serotonergic psychedelics to the nascent [[empathogen]] [[MDMA]] and [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] and [[heroin]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rawillumination.net/2017/08/more-on-timothy-leary-and-drinking.html|title=More on Timothy Leary and drinking}}</ref> in private, but consciously eschewed proselytizing substances in media appearances amid the escalation of the [[war on drugs]] throughout the [[presidency of Ronald Reagan]]. Instead, he served as a prominent advocate for [[space colonization]] and [[life extension]]. He expounded on the [[eight-circuit model of consciousness]] in books such as ''Info-Psychology: A Re-Vision of Exo-Psychology''.<ref name=Rein2017/> He invented the acronym "'''SMI²LE'''" as a succinct summary of his pre-transhumanist agenda: '''SM''' ([[Space Migration]]) + '''I²''' ([[Transhumanism|intelligence increase]]) + '''LE''' ([[Life extension]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Conners |first1=Peter |title=White Hand Society - The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg |publisher=City Lights Books |year=2010 |isbn=9780872865358 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780872865358/page/258 258] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780872865358/page/258 }}</ref>

[[File:Ginsberg-leary-lilly.jpg|thumb|right|[[Allen Ginsberg]], Timothy Leary, and [[John C. Lilly]] in 1991]]

Leary's space colonization plan evolved over the years. Initially, 5,000 of Earth's most virile and intelligent individuals would be launched on a vessel (Starseed 1) equipped with luxurious amenities. This idea was inspired by musician [[Paul Kantner]]'s 1970 concept album ''[[Blows Against The Empire]]'', which was derived from [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s [[Lazarus Long]] series. While incarcerated in [[Folsom State Prison]] during the winter of 1975–76, he became enamored of [[Princeton University]] physicist [[Gerard K. O'Neill]]'s plans to construct giant [[Garden of Eden|Eden]]-like [[O'Neill cylinder|High Orbital Mini-Earths]], as documented in the Robert Anton Wilson lecture ''H.O.M.E.s on LaGrange'', using raw materials from the Moon, orbital rock, and obsolete satellites.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Leary|1982|p=231}}: "O'Neill's proposal for mini-Earths was obviously the next step in human evolution..."}}

In the 1980s, Leary became fascinated by computers, the internet, and virtual reality. He proclaimed that "the PC is the LSD of the 1990s" and enjoined historically technophobic bohemians to "turn on, boot up, jack in."{{sfnp|Leary|Horowitz|Marshall|1994|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}<ref name="Ruthofer 1997">{{cite web |last=Ruthofer |first=Arno |title=Think for Yourself; Question Authority |year=1997 |url=http://www.geocities.com/arno_3/menu.html |access-date=February 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112225454/http://www.geocities.com/arno_3/menu.html |archive-date=November 12, 2007}}</ref> He became a promoter of virtual reality systems,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Elmer-Dewitt/Dallas |first=Philip |title=Technology: (Mis)Adventures In Cyberspace |journal=Time Magazine |date=September 3, 1990 |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,971015-2,00.html |access-date=December 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224134636/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,971015-2,00.html |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> and sometimes demonstrated a prototype of the [[Mattel]] [[Power Glove]] as part of his lectures (as in ''From Psychedelics to Cybernetics''). He befriended a number of notable people in the field, such as [[Jaron Lanier]]<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Forte | first1 = Robert| publisher = Park Street Press| date = 1999| isbn =0892817860 | title = Timothy Leary - Outside Looking In | pages = 129141}}</ref> and [[Brenda Laurel]], a pioneer in virtual environments and human–computer interaction. During the evanescent heyday of the [[cyberdelic]] subculture, he served as a consultant to [[Billy Idol]] in the production of the 1993 album ''[[Cyberpunk (album)|Cyberpunk]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Saunders |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Saunders |title=Billy Idol turns 'Cyberpunk' on new CD |url=http://jlrinteractive.com/press/billy-idol-turns-cyberpunk-on-new-cd/ |work=The Boston Globe |publisher=P. Steven Ainsley |location=135 Morrissey Boulevard. Boston, Massachusetts, United States |date=May 19, 1993 |access-date=May 29, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530004709/http://jlrinteractive.com/press/billy-idol-turns-cyberpunk-on-new-cd/ |archive-date=May 30, 2015 }}</ref>

In January 1989, his daughter Susan, then 41, was arrested in Los Angeles for non-fatally shooting her boyfriend in the head as he slept in December 1988.<ref name="Timothy Leary's daughter charged with attempted murder">{{Cite web |date=1990-01-09 |title=Timothy Leary's daughter charged with attempted murder. |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/09/Timothy-Learys-daughter-charged-with-attempted-murder/3211600325200/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=UPI |language=en-US}}</ref> She was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial for attempted murder on two occasions.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Timothy Leary 1920-1996 |first=Mikal |last=Gilmore |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=July 11–25, 1996<!--http://www.tacethno.com/info/leary/gilmore.txt-->}}</ref> After years of mental instability, she died by suicide in jail in September 1990.<ref name="Los Angeles Times-1990">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-06-mn-1266-story.html |title=Timothy Leary Daughter Hangs Self in Cell, Dies in Hospital |date=September 6, 1990 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006100725/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-06/news/mn-1266_1_timothy-leary |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mansnerus" />

Although he considered her the "great love of his life", Leary and Barbara divorced in 1992; according to friend and collaborator [[John Perry Barlow]], "Tim basically gave me permission to be her lover. He couldn't be for her what she needed sexually, so it made more sense for him to anoint someone to do that for him."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrmWDwAAQBAJ&q=Tim%20basically%20gave%20me%20permission|isbn=9781524760199|title=Mother American Night: My Life in Crazy Times|date=May 28, 2019|publisher=Crown Archetype}}</ref> Thereafter, he ensconced himself in a diverse circle of prominent figures, including [[Johnny Depp]], [[Susan Sarandon]], [[Dan Aykroyd]], Zach Leary,<ref name="Coleman2009"/> author Douglas Rushkoff, and ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' magazine publisher [[Bob Guccione, Jr.|Bob Guccione, Jr]].{{sfnp|Greenfield|2006|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} Despite declining health, he maintained a regular schedule of public appearances through 1994.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Higgs|2006|p=268}}: "The last 17 months of Tim's life were a flurry of activity. There were records to be made, documentaries to film… and countless personal appearances. A stream of press flocked to his door."}} Reflecting a modicum of [[political rehabilitation]] after several failed attempts to adapt ''Flashbacks'' as a film or television miniseries, he was the subject of a symposium of the [[American Psychological Association]] that year.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Forte | first1 = Robert| publisher = Park Street Press| date = 1999| isbn =0892817860 | title = Timothy Leary – Outside Looking In | page =8 }}</ref>

From 1989 on, Leary began to reestablish his connection to unconventional religious movements with an interest in altered states of consciousness. In 1989, he appeared with Robert Anton Wilson in a dialog called ''The Inner Frontier'' for the [[Association for Consciousness Exploration]], a Cleveland-based group that had been responsible for his first Cleveland appearance in 1979. After that, he appeared at the [[Starwood Festival]], a major Neo-Pagan event run by ACE in 1992 and 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rosencomet.com/starwood/CircleofAsh/CircleofAsh.htm |title=The Cleveland Free Times :: Archives :: Circle Of Ash<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=October 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116082713/http://www.rosencomet.com/starwood/CircleofAsh/CircleofAsh.htm |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> His planned 1994 WinterStar Symposium appearance was canceled due to his declining health. In 1992, in front of hundreds of Neo-Pagans, Leary declared, "I've always considered myself a Pagan."<ref>Quote from CD: ''Timothy Leary Live at Starwood''</ref> He also collaborated with Eric Gullichsen on ''Load and Run High-tech Paganism: Digital Polytheism''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://deoxy.org/l_digpol.htm |title=Digital Polytheism |publisher=Deoxy.org |access-date=May 19, 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519225833/http://deoxy.org/l_digpol.htm |archive-date=May 19, 2014 }}</ref> Shortly before his death on May 31, 1996, he recorded the album ''Right to Fly'' with Simon Stokes, which was released in July 1996.<ref>{{cite web| title = Timothy Leary / Simon Stokes – Right To Fly| publisher = Discogs| date = 1996| url = https://www.discogs.com/Timothy-Leary-Simon-Stokes-Right-To-Fly/master/349850| access-date = May 25, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161027134526/https://www.discogs.com/Timothy-Leary-Simon-Stokes-Right-To-Fly/master/349850| archive-date = October 27, 2016| url-status = live}}</ref>