Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 14, 2026

Jay Stevens

Jay Karl Stevens was a freelance writer and social historian. Stevens was born and raised into a family of farmers in Springfield, Vermont. He attended school there as a child and then Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, going on to the University of Vermont after graduation.

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Jay Karl Stevens (November 11, 1953 – February 19, 2025)1 was a freelance writer and social historian.2 Stevens was born and raised into a family of farmers in Springfield, Vermont. He attended school there as a child and then Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, going on to the University of Vermont after graduation.1

He is the author of Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream (1987), which has been described as a "classic" by historian David Farber3 and "the quintessential work on the history of LSD in America" by Kristin Robinson.4 Historian of science and medicine Benjamin Breen also recommends the book for those wishing to learn more about the history of LSD.5

Stevens is also the co-author of Drumming at the Edge of Magic with Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart and ethnomusicologist Fredric Lieberman.6 He founded Applied Orphics, a digital marketing and distribution company, and Rap Lab, a program bringing at-risk teenagers and professional musicians and poets together.78 Prior to his death, he was living at his family farm in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, where he produced maple syrup.1

Selected works

Books
  • Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream (1987) ISBN 9780871130761
  • Drumming at the Edge of Magic (with Mickey Hart & Fredric Lieberman) (1990) ISBN 9780062503725
  • Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm (with Mickey Hart & Fredric Lieberman) (1991) ISBN 9780062504142
  • The Sixties edited by Peter Stine, Jay Stevens contributor. Wayne State University Press (January 1, 1996) ISBN 0814325580, ISBN 978-0814325582
Discography
  • Dance House by Jay Stevens and Derek Young (2012) [1]
  • Orphic Revival by Jay Karl Stevens and The Raven (2013) [2]
Articles
References

References

  1. "Jay Karl Stevens". Obituary. Valley News, Lebanon, New Hampshire. March 13, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  2. Cohen, Richard (1998). "Stevens, Jay (Karl) 195(?)–". In Peacock, Scot; Rooney, Terrie M. (ed). Contemporary Authors. 166. Gale. pp. 378-379. ISBN 9780787626679. OCLC 40144873.
  3. Farber, David (Spring 2006). "Can't Find My Way: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000." The Historian. 68 (1): 169.
  4. Robinson, Kristin (July 1988). "Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream". Humanist. 48 (4): 40.
  5. Breen, Benjamin (2024). Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 9781538722374. OCLC 1378372597. Quote: "A Note on Sources...For further reading on the history of LSD in particular, see Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD (New York: Grove Press, 1992); and Jay Stevens, Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987)."
  6. Dunham, Elisabeth (November 14, 1990). "Drummer goes back to his roots". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. pp. 1–2.
  7. Rap Music Used in Court Diversion Program by Jane Lindholm and Matt Bushlow for Vermont Public Radio
  8. "Video about Rap Lab and audio clip in Vermont Life". Archived from the original on 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
Further reading

Further reading

  • Stevens, Jay (1991)[1987]. "Introduction". In Whitmer, Peter O., and Van Wyngarden, Bruce. Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806512228. OCLC 24781258.
External links