Some friends of Abbie's asked me to put on an evening talk for him.  

I expected about 1,500 and hired a hall that later became a cooking school on Polk and Turk.  This was sometime in the mid 1970’s.  I mark time by the main girlfriend of the time.  Since the one at that time lived in Marin, Annie, I know why I didn’t have a girlfriend with me that night.

It was very easy to do anything in the hippie days.   I reserved the hall, booked a few bands and got out the PR.  I don’t remember doing it.  It was so easy and automatic.  

The night of the event, the bands were playing, the crowd was dancing.  I had someone on the window taking the $5 or $10 that was the admission.

Then I was called away to talk to Abbie.   We knew each other from encounters over the early hippy years.  Abbie was around the corner in the back of a dark van on Eddy.  It was about 7:30 in the evening.  Abbie told me he was terrified of some danger and refused to come in and speak.  

I said that I had gone to a lot of trouble to set up this event and he couldn’t back out.  He said he was not going to speak and that it was dangerous for him.

He had all the outward appearances of a paranoid. A little shake and an agitated head.

So I walked back to the hall, made the announcement without explaining what an asshole Hoffman was.  I told everyone they could get a refund at the front window.  Which is where I personally went.  

Giving out money is not a job for someone else.

It turned out that only one-third wanted a refund.  The rest were happy dancing.