Hi,

What a great thing you are doing! I love it.

When did I first come to Atlanta? March 1970.

What brought me to Atlanta? My sister. I had run away from boarding school. My sister came to DC and found me, and I went to Atlanta to live with her.

When did I first visit the strip?  March 1970. It was such an experience. I remember very clearly the first time I walked down the strip. I felt like I was home.

My best experience? The free concerts in the park. It was always such a beautiful day when the bands played. So many people. My best experience of all was an acid trip in the park that I shared with my sister. We sat by the water for hours…in the gazebo.  My sister died in an auto accident a few years ago. I felt compelled to return to Atlanta and visit the park. I sat in exactly the same place we had been during that trip and remembered her.

Worst experience?  When the police came down the strip and started arresting people for “loitering.” They beat people. I was arrested twice, once for loitering and once for jay-walking.  Then the police cleared out Piedmont Park. It became a lonely, sad place.

What did I learn? I don’t know, really. It was a defining time in my life. I thought it would go on forever. I guess I learned that we can never really have that time back again…though I would give anything if we could. I sort of feel like a fish out of water now.

Julie