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Kerry Thornley: Anarchist, Bard, Etc.

Kerry Thornley sketch by Barbara Blackman. Courtesy of Barbara Blackman.
Kerry Thornley was many things to many people. Discordian, anarchist, Zen Buddhist, JFK assassination conspirator, acid gobbling hippie, pornographer, paranoid schizophrenic and MK-ULTRA mind control victim—to name but a few of his many personas, or how he was perceived.

The old Kris Kristofferson song sums up Kerry quite succinctly:

“He’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction, taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.”

Or to quote Walt Whitman:

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes.”

Kerry Thornley sketch by Barbara Blackman. Courtesy of The Discordian Archives.
One person who saw Kerry Thornley in a quite positive light was Barbara Blackman who was friends with both Kerry and Greg Hill during the 70s.

In the following passage, Barbara recalls how she first met Kerry:

“My friend was taking her children for the prerequisite visit to their father during summer vacation. He had kindly arranged for us to stay at Stone House, a Quaker Commune. I was trying to find my spiritual self I suppose & connected with Kerry on a very high level. I had never sat with someone & meditated in the purpose of the two beings focused together in meditation. For me he was very much the Indian Yogi walking a path of spiritual awareness. Sometimes he was a whirling dervish, others a Shakespearean bard, then Krishna with his lovers. He was asexual in that he made love with the world.”

Below: Letter from Kerry to Barbara Blackman dated January 1, 1971. Courtesy of Barbara Blackman.

Letter from Kerry to Barbara Blackman dated January 1, 1971, Page 00002. Courtesy of Barbara Blackman.
Letter from Kerry to Barbara Blackman dated January 1, 1971, Page 00001. Courtesy of Barbara Blackman.