CONFESSIONS OF AN UNABASHED `HIPPIE'

Saint John born writer says his generation still holds the key to solving
today's problems

Ralph Osborne figures there are still enough freewheeling hippies, obfuscating
politicians and bloody, senseless wars today to warrant a glance back at the
60s.

We might find a solution to today's political and social problems in the
culture of the Flower Power generation, he said. "It's time we looked back to
the 60s to deal with the problems of today," he said.

Osborne has recently published From Someplace Else, a hilarious, sometimes
tragic look back at his time as general manager of the infamous Rochdale
College in Toronto.

The book is, he said "my version of the Divine Comedy -- more comedic than
divine."

Osborne was born and raised in Saint John but he left the city while he was
still in his mid-teens. Today he lives in Toronto where he works as a freelance
writer and novelist.

His first novel, Just For Comfort , was nominated for the National Re-Lit Award
in 2001.

From Someplace Else is an autobiographical account of Osborne's journey from
delinquent kid growing up in Saint John's North End, to Saskatoon where he
tried to eke out a living as a writer and be a father, and finally, back east,
to the stoned-out life of a hippy in downtown Toronto.

"I had no idea how backward I was," he said in a recent phone interview.

Osborne's life journey -- chronicled in From Someplace Else -- is filled with
memorable faces. While living in Saskatoon, Osborne drops acid with a young
Leonard Cohen. In Toronto, he meets actress Tanya Roberts, the woman who now
stars as Midge on That 70s Show. While the general manager at Rochdale, he
stopped police from busting Rosie Rowbotham, the man who would later gain some
measure of fame as Canada's longest serving marijuana prisoner.

It's a turn of events that puzzles the man from Saint John. "Every time I jump
into shit, I end up smelling like a rose," he said

But above all, the book tells the story of Rochdale College, an 18-story
apartment building on Bloor Street that was, at one time, the largest free
university in North America.

Like Greenwich Village in New York or Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the
school was a Mecca for disenfranchised youth. Designed to house 11,000 people,
it became home to about 20,000 residents within a few months of opening in
1968.

It was also referred to in the press as the largest drug distribution warehouse
in North America. Hash, marijuana, cocaine and PCP were all easily bought in
the building, Osborne said.

Funded by the federal government, the school closed in 1975 when the Trudeau
government turned off the tap.

Osborne said the school was an important experiment in social change, fostering
many of the liberal trends reflected in society today. It attracted many
artists and writers. The school had a strong feminist movement. It tolerated
and encouraged minority rights including gay and lesbian issues.

It was also home to many U.S. draft dodgers and was the central point for the
Anti-Vietnam War movement in Toronto. "There were a lot of extremely talented
people there," Osborne said.

Nearly 30 years later, the hippie in Osborne lives on. He speaks with a mixture
of sadness and fondness about the seven years he spent at the college. He does
not want people to relive the 60s, he said. But rather he wants people to read
his book and learn from his experiences.

"You should smoke a joint and read it," he said.

From Someplace Else is published by ECW Press and is available online at
www.ecwpress.com