[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of John Leeke,
Preservation Consultant
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:21 AM

 > cool it was in summer .  It all went swell playing chief in the wig 
-wam until
 > one of the girls parent showed up and took the tearful half naked 
girl away
 > threatening to call the cops and put the Kibosh on the party   PY  .

I met my wife, Radha, at the hippy comune in the Birkshire hills of 
western Massachusettes, the town was North Leverett, but so sparcely 


John:  

I went to school at UMass/Amherst and really enjoyed that area (North Leverett is about 15-20 miles north of Amherst).  It's a lot like Ithaca where I grew up only more laid back once you get out of town (probably just the perception of someone taking a very laid back approach to college on their parents' nickel).  I used to ride my bike north and east of Amherst but never got up as far as North Leverett that I can remember.  Once I had a car or motorcycle there I enjoyed wandering around the small hill towns.  Back around the first of this year I took the drive from Turners Falls down to Sunderland, not far from where you lived, and then down around UMass and Hadley/North Hadley where I used to live and it was nice to see that area again.  

I tried to move there in between stints in academia but never got roots down though I did qualify for in-state tuition by the time I was through.  It took me 7-1/2 years, off and on, from the time I first enrolled until I finished with my classes, changing majors a couple of times, stopping out a couple times, trying my parents' patience at times.  

Ahhh, Happy Valley... 

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