Readers' Comments
Email #1:
I finally have had a break in my schedule and have started in earnest reading your manuscript this past weekend. I am thoroughly enjoying it and can't believe how much you have nailed the times through your characters and the feelings surrounding People's Park at the time. I am about half way through and can't wait to finish! It definitely brings back memories for me.
Email #2:
Your depiction of Bill and how he would have handled that sort of request - right up to the lady with him and how she behaved...you had to have been there to experience something like that because the details of his mannerisms and what he would have said and done and why he would have done it for "Tula" was so spot on that it was kind of mind boggling. You also brought back many memories of People's Park that I had completely forgotten about -- memories that clearly make up who I am today. I could go on but I really enjoyed it.
I would like to send it down to my sister for a read as well. She is the General Manager at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
Sherry Wasserman
Another Planet Entertainment
(Former Senior Vice President of Bill Graham Presents)
*
A well-written book on a slightly unusual topic - hippies (no vampires!). Tanya Coad beautifully captures the spirit of the late 60's and peoples the story with characters that embody the feel of the times. Real events are skillfully woven into the fictitious storyline and a highly imaginative use of music to punctuate scenes. A very satisfying read. Recommended.
Michael Hurst
Musician/Composer
*
What a fun and joyous read! Growing up in Berkeley as a teenager in the 60’s was an amazing and unique experience and Ms. Coad successfully transported me back to those coming of age years in the San Francisco Bay Area! Between the riots over People’s Park to working concerts for Bill Graham, the book Love Haight ’69 has truly captured a very special time in a very special place, reminding me of many fond memories long forgotten.
Rena Wasserman
General Manager for The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
(Former Executive Director of the Wiltern Theatre in LA, and before that, Production Manager at the theater under the direction of Bill Graham Presents)
*
Love Haight ’69 is a great read!
Wonderful story with great characters about a fascinating and important time and place. Not only is the story great but it’s also a super history of the sixties. The San Francisco Haight-Ashbury counterculture. Political activism across the bay in Berkeley. The incredible music that helped define that era. You’ll enjoy this book!
Les Kishler
AgroEcology Teacher
FSM ’64, UC Berkeley ’68, People’s Park ‘69
*
Fabulous! A moving coming-of-age story as well as a fun and informative history lesson. Tanya Coad has captured an exciting and hopeful period of time and brought it to life for both those who were and those who weren't there. Thanks for the great read, I look forward to the movie!
Linda Walley
Vancouver Public Library
*
Rena Wasserman
General Manager for The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles
(Former Executive Director of the Wiltern Theatre in LA, and before that, Production Manager at the theater under the direction of Bill Graham Presents)
*
Love Haight ’69 is a great read!
Wonderful story with great characters about a fascinating and important time and place. Not only is the story great but it’s also a super history of the sixties. The San Francisco Haight-Ashbury counterculture. Political activism across the bay in Berkeley. The incredible music that helped define that era. You’ll enjoy this book!
Les Kishler
AgroEcology Teacher
FSM ’64, UC Berkeley ’68, People’s Park ‘69
*
Fabulous! A moving coming-of-age story as well as a fun and informative history lesson. Tanya Coad has captured an exciting and hopeful period of time and brought it to life for both those who were and those who weren't there. Thanks for the great read, I look forward to the movie!
Linda Walley
Vancouver Public Library
*
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll - with a heavy dose of journalistic reportage - the title says it all! Coad delivers on all four and more in this fun coming of age story set in a time when the entire world seemed to be ablaze with mass anger, free love, artistic excitement, and a desire to overturn The Establishment.
We come to know and love Tula - the Canadian naif who is drawn to California like a bee to honey - for her inexperience and bravery, her traditional values, and sense of experimentation. Tula whirlwhinds her way through a kaleidoscope of experiences from the relative comfort of her vegetarian hippie nest called The Pink Palace. Carefully detailed scenes of police brutality and British rock stars, frightening acid trips, and environmental activism will be all too familiar to those readers of a “certain age.”
There are some beautifully evocative scenes where Coad’s writing is first rate: fully drawn portraits of colorful characters such as the Ant, the quirky Daisy, and Rainbow Man. A girl’s first heartbreak is among the best plot lines; and the book is clearly as much a love story as anything. While there is sex (nothing cringe-worthy; it’s gentle and romantic), Tula espouses a kind of pro-woman monogamy that’s refreshing even today. While there are drugs, the protagonist experiments but knows her limits.
Be prepared to be educated about the geography, the history, the politics, and the people that made the 60’s so mind bending. Love Haight ’69 could serve as a teaching tool for young people who are interested in the decade and want to know more about it - particularly the fateful year of 1969 - yet Coad never reduces her prose to preachiness nor is she overly pendantic.
Love Haight ’69 is absolutely worthy of debut on the big screen. The overall tone is upbeat without glossing over many hard issues, and the dialogue is witty, fast-paced and clever. Don’t be surprised if Tula’s trip through the Summer of Love shows up in your local cinema!
Sue E. Smith
Associate Director for Communications
College Houses & Academic Services
University of Pennsylvania
*
Are you experienced? If you’ve ever wondered what it must have been like to live through the revolutionary cultural renaissance of late 1960s San Francisco (or if you were there, and your memories are foggy...), Tanya Coad’s novel Love Haight '69 transports you there on a magically mysterious journey where the utopian minded hippies redefined the finer pleasures of life, from wine, women and song into sex, drugs and rock and roll. Through the eyes of Tula, a young idealist in search of love and determined to change the world, we feel the highs and lows of coming of age in the age of Aquarius.
Brian Solon
Bestselling Writer
*
Love Haight '69 is thoroughly enjoyable. It's well researched, with a variety of interesting characters. It takes place during one of the most fascinating periods in the history of American pop culture. And it's a great escape back to a time and place when the world was in transition, and people were exploring different lifestyles. It's a great book to get lost in. It's likely to send you back to your stereo time and again to revisit the rich and memorable music from that era as well. I found myself invested in the characters, and while I couldn't wait to see how the stories unfolded, I also hated for it to end. Highly recommended to anyone who misses the late 1960's and is looking for an escape from the world in which we live today.
Tim Frueh
*
Please send us your comments when you've read Love Haight '69.
You can also post feedback on Amazon Books:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Haight-69-Tanya-Coad/dp/145360961X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283354566&sr=1-1
We come to know and love Tula - the Canadian naif who is drawn to California like a bee to honey - for her inexperience and bravery, her traditional values, and sense of experimentation. Tula whirlwhinds her way through a kaleidoscope of experiences from the relative comfort of her vegetarian hippie nest called The Pink Palace. Carefully detailed scenes of police brutality and British rock stars, frightening acid trips, and environmental activism will be all too familiar to those readers of a “certain age.”
There are some beautifully evocative scenes where Coad’s writing is first rate: fully drawn portraits of colorful characters such as the Ant, the quirky Daisy, and Rainbow Man. A girl’s first heartbreak is among the best plot lines; and the book is clearly as much a love story as anything. While there is sex (nothing cringe-worthy; it’s gentle and romantic), Tula espouses a kind of pro-woman monogamy that’s refreshing even today. While there are drugs, the protagonist experiments but knows her limits.
Be prepared to be educated about the geography, the history, the politics, and the people that made the 60’s so mind bending. Love Haight ’69 could serve as a teaching tool for young people who are interested in the decade and want to know more about it - particularly the fateful year of 1969 - yet Coad never reduces her prose to preachiness nor is she overly pendantic.
Love Haight ’69 is absolutely worthy of debut on the big screen. The overall tone is upbeat without glossing over many hard issues, and the dialogue is witty, fast-paced and clever. Don’t be surprised if Tula’s trip through the Summer of Love shows up in your local cinema!
Sue E. Smith
Associate Director for Communications
College Houses & Academic Services
University of Pennsylvania
*
Are you experienced? If you’ve ever wondered what it must have been like to live through the revolutionary cultural renaissance of late 1960s San Francisco (or if you were there, and your memories are foggy...), Tanya Coad’s novel Love Haight '69 transports you there on a magically mysterious journey where the utopian minded hippies redefined the finer pleasures of life, from wine, women and song into sex, drugs and rock and roll. Through the eyes of Tula, a young idealist in search of love and determined to change the world, we feel the highs and lows of coming of age in the age of Aquarius.
Brian Solon
Bestselling Writer
*
Love Haight '69 is thoroughly enjoyable. It's well researched, with a variety of interesting characters. It takes place during one of the most fascinating periods in the history of American pop culture. And it's a great escape back to a time and place when the world was in transition, and people were exploring different lifestyles. It's a great book to get lost in. It's likely to send you back to your stereo time and again to revisit the rich and memorable music from that era as well. I found myself invested in the characters, and while I couldn't wait to see how the stories unfolded, I also hated for it to end. Highly recommended to anyone who misses the late 1960's and is looking for an escape from the world in which we live today.
Tim Frueh
*
Please send us your comments when you've read Love Haight '69.
You can also post feedback on Amazon Books:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Haight-69-Tanya-Coad/dp/145360961X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283354566&sr=1-1
