Ken Kesey was born Kenneth Elton Kesey on September 17, 1935 in La Junta, Colorado and died on Novemer 10, 2001 in Pleasant Hill, Oregon at the age of 66.  While Kesey was a child his parents moved from Colorado to Oregon State.  In high school and college Kesey was a star athlete in wrestling.  He studied at the University of Oregon and upon graduation married his high school sweetheart.  Kesey had 4 children, 3 with his wife Faye and 1 with Merry Prankster Carolyn Adams.

In 1958 Kesey attended a creative writing program at Stanford.  This is when he would begin writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Kesey's inspiration for this novel came when he agreed to participate in and experiment at the Menlo Park veteran's hospital, a study on the effects of psychoactive drugs.  Kesey would spend time talking to some of the patients of the hospital, but his take on their situation was much different than those of other people.  He did not believe that the patients were insane at all.

After the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey spent time as the *non-leader* of the Merry Pranksters.  The antics of the Merry Pranksters has been widely documented as well as being the subject of Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  During this time he published Sometimes a Great Notion.  During his time with the Merry Pranksters he had gotten into some legal trouble and at one point tried to fake his own death.

Ken Kesey's works include=

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Viking, 1962

Sometimes a Great Notion, Viking, 1964.

Kesey's Garage Sale, Viking, 1973.

Kesey, Northwest Review of Books, 1977 (Edited by Michael Strelow).

The Day After Superman Died, Lord John Press, 1980.

Demon Box, Viking, 1986.

The Further Inquiry, Viking, 1990.

Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear, Viking 1990.

The Sea Lion, Viking, 1991.

Sailor Song, Viking, 1992.

Last Round Up, (with Ken Babbs), Viking, 1994.