I left Southeast Asia 9/5/69 to enroll at USC’s film school. “Easy Rider” was released that summer and getting all sorts of attention. One of the faculty, Mel Sloan probably, set up a screening at Columbia followed by a Q&A with Hopper. The screening ended about 8:30 PM and Hopper, perhaps fueled by something extra, held forth almost non-stop until well after 3AM. I remember him saying that this was one of the first times he’d ever had a chance to talk about “making movies” to an outside group that had some interest in the process. Among the takeways, I remember that he said the reason for the flash editing was that they didn’t have the budget to pay for dissolves. He spent about 15 minutes bemoaning a reflector flash on one of the teepees in the commune scene. He was also emnphatic that the hero of the film was the farmer. He did an extended rap on how hard it was to work the land, love the wife, rear the kids, do honest, decent work. I didn’t learn until I read the obits that he was from Kansas.

BTW,Indigo, I know it’s obligatory for Progressives to deny any and all Vietnam era spitting stories. FYI, I was spit on in November 1967 on the campus of Boston University. I was there for a special USAF course prior to deploying to SEA. We had to wear our uniform every Thursday. Walking to class one Thursday morning, a coed stopped me, spit at my face and then ran off laughing to join a young man standing about 15 yards away. They both ran away then laughing like they had played an enormous joke. It was actually more of a spray than a blob of spit. Because she was short, only a little bit even reached my chin. We had been warned to expect incidents and avoid any retaliation. I went on to class, reported the incident to my Tac officer, and let it slide.