Monday Night Class

Monday Night Class-a weekly event in San Francisco conducted by Stephen Gaskin during the heyday of the hippies-attracted over 2,000 people each week. This new edition is a collection of the original transcripts from these historic meetings, with new commentary by Stephen from today's perspective. In these transcripts Stephen explores the laws that govern the spiritual plane, drawing on sources as varied as the Bible, Zen Buddhism, and the daily newspapers, interpreting the visions of the '60s generation with humor and affection. Includes photographs from Monday Night Class in San Francisco.

Stephen Gaskin was born in 1935 in Denver, Colorado. After a tour of duty in the Marine Corp, he earned his teaching credentials and taught at San Francisco State University for two years. It was there that he became involved with the hip revolutionary movement sweeping the country.

Stephen gained increased recognition in the early 70s when he embarked on a nationwide speaking tour at colleges and churches. Accompanied by some 250 young adults, mostly from Monday Night Class, in 50 school buses and assorted vehicles the tour became known as The Caravan and picked up new members as they travelled across the country.

In 1971 Stephen and the group bought land in Tennessee and founded The Farm, one of the largest and most successful alternative communities in the country. The Farm became renown for soy technology, re-introducing the home birth movement, and founding Plenty International, a relief and development organization. Stephen accepted the "Right Livelihood Award" or "Alternative Nobel Prize" for Plenty in Sweden in 1980.

Stephen, an active speaker on the alternative lifestyles circuit, was inducted into the Counter Culture Hall of Fame in Amsterdam in November 2004. He has five children and three grandchildren and lives with his wife, midwife Ina May Gaskin, on The Farm.