Wichita wasn’t always so conservative, and neither was Tiahrt

Todd Tiahrt was once asked on an interview on one of the local news stations, several years ago. A caller asked him if the roomers were true that he once used LSD. He hesitated for some time and then said “no.” Later, he came back on TV to admit he once smoked marijuana and so that was the reason he hesitated.
Todd was born in 1951, which puts him at an older age than myself. There were a lot of drugs, LSD, included, going around in the late 1960s to mid 1970s. The truth may be that Todd not only took LSD, but may have been a part of the counter culture he now condemns. He is supposed to be a hard-core Christian who would never take part in any hedonism. But that hedonism was a part of Wichita when I was growing up and I’d bet he took part in some of it. Sex morals were loosened and drugs were plentiful back then. But Tiahrt doesn’t like looking back. He took a civil war vet and Democrat out off the halls of statues, for Kansas, and he put in Ike Eisenhower, even though the man only grew up here and spent little or none of his adult life here.

That’s why he probably wouldn’t like my portrayal of Wichita in the early 1970s, as depicted in my book Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie. The book tells of heroin use (and yes it was prevalent in 1973 to 1974). There were pot parties, LSD use, and there was a “freak” or “hippie” culture here in Wichita. Tiahrt would rather we believe Wichita was always a nice conservative town, but for much of its history, it just plain wasn’t.

Any one who wants to see what Wichita was like in the 1970s can order Memoirs
from Amazon.com. The first half of the book is set in Wichita.
Learn the truth about Wichita in the counter culture days.
Wichita wasn’t always so conservative, and neither was Tiahrt