Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney) has
lived a life filled with excitement, adventure, and
philanthropy. He was a part of the Beat movement in
the late 1950s, hanging out in Greenwich Village with
hipsters and folk singers like Paul Krassner, Lenny
Bruce, and Bob Dylan. He was a comedian and a comic
actor, working for a time at the Committee (San
Francisco's equivalent to Chicago's Second City ). By
1966, he was one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and
living on a mountain top commune near L.A. called the
Hog Farm. After a time, the Hog Farm took to the road
with its members living in a fleet of converted
school buses and traveling the country protesting the
Vietnam War. Wavy Gravy achieved his first 15 minutes
of fame when he declared from the stage at Woodstock,
"What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for
400,00."
After Woodstock, the Hog
Farm collective journeyed to Europe and eventually
ended up in Nepal, distributing medical supplies to
Pakistani flood victims. Disturbed by the countless
numbers of people suffering from unnecessary
blindness (due to easily operable cataracts or severe
vitamin deficiencies), Gravy and his fellow Farmers
joined forces with the World Health Organization to
form Seva, an international medical aid organization.
Seva (named after a
Sanskrit word meaning "service") has since
expanded its base of services to include many
projects where compassionate action can make a
difference, "including supporting refugees of
violence in Guatemala, Native Americans caught in an
ongoing health crises, and America's homeless
population.
Another more recent Hog
Farm project is Camp Winnarainbow, a performing arts
summer camp located near Laytonville, California. Run
by Wavy and his wife, Jahanara, Camp Winnarainbow
teaches performance and circus skills to kids of all
ages and from all economic backgrounds in an
easygoing, everyone-has-a- talent atmosphere.
In addition to his Hog Farm
undertakings, Wavy has filled his days with an
endless list of benefits and worthy causes. There was
Home Aid (for the homeless), Cowboys for Indians (for
Native Americans), Blues Against Blindness (for
SEVA), countless hours spent in children's hospital
wards, and much, much more. He's addicted to helping
people, and his enthusiasm is contagious.
In 1995, Wavy Gravy's
comedy album Old Feathers -- New
Bird (Relix Records) was named
Best Comedy Album of the Year by the National
Association of Independent Record Distributors.
Master of Ceremonies at
both Woodstocks (1969 & 1994), author of Something
Good for a Change, mastermind
of the campaign of Nobody for President ("Who's
going to lower your taxes? Nobody!"), and
inspiration for the delicious Ben & Jerry ice
cream flavor that bears his name, Wavy Gravy keeps
the Sixties alive with his comedy, his wisdom, and
his deep love of the earth and its inhabitants.
(MORE
ABOUT WAVY: "SKETCH OF MY THUMBNAIL")
"He is one of
the most unselfish and conerned persons I ever
expect to meet in my lifetime -- and he is also
one of the brightest and most talented."
-- Phil Elwood, S.F. Examiner
"Like the best
of clowns, Wavy Gravy will make as big a fool of
himself as is necessary to make a wiser man of
you. He is one of the better people on
earth."
-- Ron Rosenbaum, Village Voice
"No one summed
up the spirit of slapstick, anarchy and antic
liberation at Woodstock better than Wavy. He's
still carrying the counter culture torch 20 years
after the Sixties."
-- People
"Wavy's quips
still have bite. He's the rock and roll
generation's clown conscience."
-- Eugene Register-Guard
"A perfect
entertainer."-- Lenny Bruce / "A
master satirist."-- Tom Wolfe
