AL REMEMBERS

Al Bregman reminisced about meeting Ray and visits in Harvard Square afterward: "I got to talking with him and was impressed by his intelligence and the broad-ranging scope of his mind. After that we became friends. Among the highlights of our palling around together back then

Al's picture Ray on Cape Cod, 1965

• -- Going to a counterculture party with Ray, where we met the head witch of England, a crafty old lady. (Ray was well-connected in the counterculture community.)
• -- Trying to smoke (or eat?) some banana skins that Ray had dried in his oven, because Ray had heard that they would give a psychedelic experience. They didn't.
• -- Going to Cape Cod on a double date; learning that beer was a good accompaniment to lobster.
• -- Calling Ray at any hour of the day or night because you never knew when he would be awake (Periodically he went on a 25 hour day, waking an hour later each day),
• -- Walking gingerly through his Harvard Square apartment to a room populated entirely by piles of books, stacked to the ceiling, avoiding the parts of old cast-off TV sets and other machines on the way,
• -- Going into a cafe on Harvard Square and convincing the fortune teller there (who used Tarot cards) that we had psychic powers. Ray's droll contribution: "You are going to go on a long trip." Her final words: "I just go by the cards, but you have real powers.""