wavy gravy
Yes, the same Wavy Gravy who had his 15 minutes of fame during the Woodstock Festival checks in with his maiden comedy outing over 20 years after the fact. [1]
He may be best known to millions as a cosmic cut-up and the inspiration for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor ‘ “I am an activist clown and former frozen dessert,” he says ‘ but it is because of his good work on behalf of the planet and its least fortunate residents that Wavy Gravy has achieved his own brand of sainthood. [...] Wavy Gravy, Hugh Romney, who is fast approaching official geezerhood, is more active and more effective in the world then he was decades ago. [...] He was at Woodstock as a member of an entertainment/activist commune known as the Hog Farm. [...] Today, the Hog Farm still exists, collectively owning and operating the 700-acre Black Oak Ranch and hosting the annual Pig-Nic. [2]
He does, however, enjoy traditional clown activities such as jokes, magic tricks and entertaining children. [...] Romney was lying onstage when it was announced that B.B. King was going to play. [1]
Later, during the first Woodstock Festival, Wavy Gravy and fellow members of the Hog Farm Collective were put in charge of security, which was remarkably low-key. [...] His moniker (which is the name he uses on a day to day basis; “It’s worked pretty well through my life,” he says, “except with telephone operators ‘ I have to say ‘Gravy, first initial W.”) was given to him by B.B. King at the Texas International Pop Festival. [3]
And Wavy lives a third of the year in a Berkeley Hog Farm urban outpost, a big communal house he refers to as “hippie Hyannisport” But Mr. Gravy (as he’s known to readers of the New York Times) has expanded his activities over the past two-and-a-half decades to include codirectorship (with his wife, Jahanara) of Camp Winnarainbow, a performing arts program for children which takes over the Hog Farm for 10 weeks every summer, and the organization of all-star rock concerts to raise money for a variety of environmental, progressive, political, and charitable causes, most notably Seva, a foundation he cofounded in 1978, initially to combat preventable and curable blindness in the Third World. [2]
For a time he shared an apartment with singer-songwriter Tom Paxton in Greenwich Village, and Romney was one of Bob Dylan ’s earliest friends in New York City. [3]
Indeed, when you spend any stretch of time with Wavy Gravy, strolling around the Hog Farm during the Pig-Nic, hanging out with him at his “hippie Hyannisport” in Berkeley, observing him in action at a public function ‘ you quickly discover that the man with the rubbery face and ever-changing costume is a walking public service announcement for positive social change and compassion. [2]
Wavy Gravy is also the co-founder (along with his wife Jahanara) of a circus and performing arts camp called Camp Winnarainbow. [3]
If I used to have straight hair till about 25 years then a bit wavy is my genotype straight or wavy. [1]
During an exploration of the Pig-Nic’s “backstage” area, which encompasses a meadow with a labyrinth based on an ancient pagan model, a lovely wooded creek, and the magnificent oak grove where the Camp Winnarainbow teepees are pitched, the Balinese gongs of Berkeley’s Gamelan Sekar Jaya are ringing through the trees. [2]
Sources:
[1] Wavy Gravy: Information from Answers.com
[2] Wavy’s Biography
[3] Wavy Gravy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia