Photo at left: June 2002 "Monte Capanno 1970" Reunion.  (Click here for more reunion 2002,  here to see 2001 reunion photos, here to see reunion 2003 photos, here for 2004 reunion photos, here to see the 2005 reunion photos, or here to see the 2007 reunion photos.)

Where are we now? Biographical updates about the members of the Monte Capanno 1970 community

• Joel at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Joel Agee (email: joel.agee@mac.com) remains married to Susan and lives in New York City. Their daughter, Gina, who lived with us on the farm as a young girl, now is in her 30s, recently married, and had twin babies early in 2007.  Gina once was a fashion designer in New York, then worked as a stylist in Los Angeles, and now is involved in the healing arts.  Joel's memoir, Twelve Years: An American Boyhood in East Germany, was well reviewed, and his 2005 book, In the House of My Fear, discusses the Monte Capanno experience briefly.  Joel also has published essays and stories in magazines like Harper's and The New Yorker, and translates books from German into English.
• Susan at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Susan Agee is employed as a legal assistant by the New York City Municipal Workers' Union.  The Monte Capanno 1970 video features cute sections starring all three Agees, and just prior to arriving at the 2002 Monte Capanno reunion, the three enjoyed spending time together in Los Angeles.  Both Agees also attended the 2005 reunion.
• Gordon at Sedona, AZ, June 2004 (click picture for larger version)
• Gordon Bowen, returned from Italy, married Linda Green and graduated from San Jose State; later earned a Ph.D. at U.C. Santa Barbara;  He is a teacher of college political science in rural Virginia, and is the webmaster of the Monte Capanno 1970 website.  For more about Gordon, go here.  Contact the Bowens at email: gordo110@yahoo.com.
• Luigi "Gigi" Cecchi, a Firenze-based friend of the American students, visited the farm in 1970 with his friends Paolo Barbetti and Massimo Baldovino.  They also hosted Mark Fissel for a month in 1973.  In 1992, Mark met Luigi again in Firenze, found him to be living in a Medici villa there, and working as a master leather craftsman for Gucci.
• Mark Cohen... Research into Mark's whereabouts has been led by Mark Fissel and Wes Shaffer for the MC-70 group.  In 2009, evidence surfaced that Cohen may have been an attorney who was involved in a Ponzi scheme in Florida.  Fissel's letter about Mark is found here.
• John Dean, friend of David Zack's, found the webmasters from Ibiza (Spain) in April 2002.  John says, "What have I been doing for the last 32 years? ummm...I think 'hanging out' sums it up most accurately. What am I doing now? Since ´89 I've been living in Spain in an ancient stone farmhouse, albeit one with modern conveniences, where I grow my own veggies and distill brandies and eau de vies from the local grapes.  I play golf and sailboard regularly, go looking for mushrooms and am usually engaged in a dozen or so games of GO by e-mail. (My login at itsyourturn.com is 'Jbongd' if there are any GO players among you."  John can be reached at: dean@ibiza-mail.com
• Terre at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Terre Eakins, is the mother of two and long has resided in the Las Vegas, NV area; email: talk2terre@yahoo.com.  Recently, she retired from being a public school math teacher. Terre always had a knack for money: she was Treasurer for the Monte Capanno experiment, and later worked as a casino craps dealer in Lake Tahoe and in Las Vegas.  Divorced early in the current decade, Terre enjoys travel, especially trips with her "5th wheel" trailer to northern Mexico.  In summer 2001, Terre graciously gave lessons in shooting craps to our webmasters, Linda and Gordon Bowen, when they visited the memorable Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.  Subsequently, the three have gotten together several times -- at the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 Monte Capanno 1970 reunions, and to party together at Linda's sister's house in Orange, CA.
• Chuck Egof and Katie Hinkle.  John Dean in May 2002 supplied this lead: "I believe Chuck lives in Burlingame, California and is probably in the phone book. If not, in the same phone book you will find Earthbeam Natural Foods.  The proprietor is David Hinkle who is Katie´s  brother and Chuck's former business partner.  I´m sure David would be happy to give you their information or pass on yours.  Feel free to use my name.  Chuck and Katie split up in the 70's.  They have a daughter, Carmin, who must be pushing 30.  Between them they likely have a buttload of photos from those days. Perhaps a group shot?"  OK, Bay Area sleuths: who is going to run this lead down?
• Linda Faulkner (or is it Falkner? We are not certain about the spelling).  Does anyone have information about her hometown, marriages, or any other ideas of how to find Linda and to coax her into making contact?  Is it possible that our Linda was the person of this name in the Reagan Administration?  Does anyone have any ideas?
• Mark Fissel at the 2003 Monte Capanno reunion
• Mark Fissel, graduated from U. C. Santa Cruz and earned a Ph.D. in History at U. C. Berkeley.  He is an accomplished historian and an academic administrator in Georgia. (email: mfissel@aug.edu).  Mark helped get the whole Monte Capanno project started when he contacted Gordon Bowen in 2000, and he attended the 2003 Monte Capanno Reunion in Truckee, CA.
• Richard Gouley (c. 2000) on the Salmon River, ID
• Richard Gouley moved to Sun Valley, ID in 1970 and is now a married father of two adult offspring (a daughter and a son).  Richard is a tile contractor, and his family make their home in Bellvue, ID (need email update).
• Linda, Summer 2001, at the ocean in Pacific Grove, CA (click picture for more about Linda)s
• Linda Green, returned from Italy, married Gordon Bowen to become Linda Bowen, and graduated from San Jose State; later she earned an M.A. from Lynchburg (VA) College. She is a Special Education teacher for Learning Disabled students in a rural Virginia high school; email: lindabowen2@yahoo.com.  Gordon and Linda have been married nearly 40 years, have two adult daughters (and two sons-in-law), two grandsons, and one granddaughter.  (Link to 2005 photo). Contact the Bowens at 540-885-3192.  For more about Linda today, go here.
• Jan at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Jan Hammond, married to Jim Gentes (a Santa Cruz area inventor of bike helmets) to become Jan Gentes.  Jan played an important part in the bike helmet business for many years.  Recently retired and separated from Jim, she is enjoying raising her daughter in Soquel, CA.  Jan attended the 2002 and the 2009 reunions; email: jangentes@aol.com
• Barbara Hemsted:  After several years of amateur detective work by nearly everyone in this community, in August 2005 Cathee (White) St. Clair located Barb.  Barb now is known as B. J. Smith.  Her life after San Jose took her to Santa Cruz CA, then to Miami, FL, where she relocated in 1979.  With her husband, she for more than 20 years has owned and run a cable and fiber optics company.  A mother of three teens/young adults, Barb continues to practice meditation, and is engaged in various arts and home renovation projects. 
• Katie Hinkle: see above re: Chuck Egof.
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• Darrell at the July 2003 reunion
• Darrell Jones: for 30 plus years Darrell has been involved in the Eugene, Oregon community.  His professional work is in the area of computer science and network systems.  A father of two, Darrell enjoys soccer and playing music.  He and his partner, Lucia, attended the 2003 reunion.
• Kris at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Kris Kagan, now Kristen Lee, lives in Novato, CA after having spent much of the time since MC-70 in New York and Massachusetts.  Kris attended the 2002 and 2004 reunions, is a massage therapist. (email: need update).
• Christine at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Christine Klyce, lives in Tiburon, CA.  A student and teacher of transcendental meditation, Christine brought a soothing calm to the original Monte Capanno experiment and to her life thereafter, guiding many in these ways of the East.  Instrumental in finding Kris Kagan, Christine brought her to Truckee and both enjoyed the June 2002 MC-70 reunion.
•   Marti at the 2002 MC-70 reunion
• Marti Kramer, is a quality assurance specialist who consults for corporations throughout Silicon Valley and the Bay Area; she enjoys good wine and lives in Glen Ellen CA.  Marti was the Maid of Honor at Gordon and Linda's September 1970 wedding, and was the member of MC-70 most responsible for getting us listed on the Google search engine.  Kramer hosted the first Montecapanno reunion in July 2001, attended the 2002 and 2003 reunion events, then hosted again the 2004 reunion and the 2005 reunion.  We also enjoyed seeing Marti again at the 2009 MC-70 Reunion in San Jose (July 2009). (email: martiLK@aol.com).
• Debbie Linson: In 2001, Rich Gouley told MC-70 that he has a friend in No CA who still sees Debbie from time to time; can anyone coax Rich into following up on this?
• Terry, c. 2002
• Terry MacDonald, received a Ph.D. at U. C. Santa Barbara, and now teaches Sociology at SJSU; email: floralstan@sbcglobal.net .  Efforts by several of us to coax Terry into making contact with our re-emerging group have not succeeded.  We all loved Terry; he was a key member of the Monte Capanno community and a generous friend.  Moreover, we are sure the events of 1970 were important in his life.  Can anyone persuade Terry to take another look?
• Daniella Martel: Beyond Darrell Jones' memory that she was a third year SJS student who formerly had been in Tutorials, we are clueless here.  Help!
• Mary Miller: two sources have reported that Mary still lives in the Palo Alto, CA area.  Most recently, Mike White told this to Wes Shaffer in August 2004.  Can anybody locate her, lure her into looking the website, and talk her into sharing her memories of a student's life in rural Italy?
• Craig Morem, married Kathy Roberts and immigrated to British Columbia, Canada after returning from Monte Capanno.  After having two daughters and living several years on Gambier Island BC, they separated and later divorced.  Craig lives in Powell River BC, works in the logging industry, and enjoys hunting, fishing, and rhododendron gardening.  Craig was mailed a printed version of an early draft of what has become the Memories webpages, and Gordon and Linda talked to Craig during Fall 2000.  We still hope to hear more from him one day.
• Deirdre phones a friend from the 2002  MC-70 reunion
• Deirdre Ranier, fondly remembers Monte Capanno 1970, attended the 2002 reunion, and looks forward to future contact with the other members of project.  Deirdre spent nine months after Monte Capanno 1970 traveling in Europe, and returned to the U.S. committed to helping people as she had been welcomed by Europeans.  She earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at University of Wyoming (1983) and for nearly twenty years has practiced, first in Wyoming, then in the Los Angeles, CA region, again in Lander, WY, and more recently in Hawaii.  She is the mother of two young adults, a son and a daughter.  Contact her at: drrus@wyoming.com
• Cindy Rippey, Zack's student at S.F. Art Institute, guest at Monte Capanno as girlfriend of Zack's friend John Dean, now works for the California State Government in Sacramento. Though arriving at Monte Capanno only in May 1970, the experience seems to have made a lasting impression:  "Who ever taught me to crochet saved my mental health and helped to develop a life style.  I do pots now.  On the wheel.  It started a trend in my life.  I don't do crochet anymore, but it contributed.  I'll be forever an artist. Thank You." ... email Cindy at: rikencin@jps.net
•   Kathy Roberts at the reunion in 2002
• Kathy Roberts, immigrated to Canada in 1970, married and later divorced Craig Morem; they have two adult daughters.  Kathy later remarried to David Short when both worked at a rural school in British Columbia, Canada.  They retired in 2001, attended the 2002 and 2003 reunions in Truckee CA.  Kathy and David enjoy trips throughout the West and beyond. (email: Kathy: we need an update!!).
• Martin Rutishauser, Gordon's childhood friend from Pasadena CA who came to Monte Capanno via his student home in Freiburg, Germany, now is a conductor who also works at a private school in New York City.  He is married, and in 2005 when he found the website, his two daughters were five and seven.   He wrote, saying: "New York is an incessantly vibrant place, but you have to get away from the craziness of it all on occasion." email: martinibex@nyc.rr.com
• Rick at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Rick Saunders: Rick is owner of an engineering firm in the Seattle WA area, and is the married father of a preteen.  Rick enjoyed both the 2001 and the 2002 MC-70 reunions.  (email: need update)
• Wes and Sue at the July 2001 Monte Capanno reunion (click picture for larger version)
• Wesley Shaffer: Wes is a business executive in San Francisco and lives in the East Bay.  He long has been married to the former Sue Rutz, who also is a SJS alum; they are parents of three adult and near adult children.  Wes holds a Ph.D. in European History from UCLA; Sue is a professional educator in a suburban Bay Area public school district.  The two attended the first four of the MC-70 reunions (i.e., 2001-04), and the 2009 reunion at San Jose, CA, and can be reached at: t.shaffers@comcast.net
• Georgia Tanagoshi, a third year SJS student in 1970, and a former Tutorials student who became involved in the experiment at MC-70, (or her boyfriend, Warren ___ ); Darrell recalls these facts about them.  Anybody remember any more, and any leads gang?
• Terry "Tall Terry" Tarranatts found the website in March 2006, and has been invited to contribute his thoughts about it all.  See message board, March 20, 2006.
• Cathee shows a painted egg, at the July 2001 Monte Capanno reunion (click picture for more)
• Cathee White, now Cathee van Rossem St. Clair is an artist, art teacher, book illustrator (e.g., White Mountain Blues by Hal Bennett), and poet who lives in the Lake Tahoe region.  Her art features intricate paintings on the shells of eggs and other media. (email: stclair@usamedia.tv ).  In the winter holiday season 2002, one of her painted eggshell ornaments prominently was displayed on the official U.S. Christmas Tree at the White House, Washington D.C. and was featured on the president's website about the event.  Cathee has been among the most active contributors to the MC-70 project; her diaries, works of art, and letters form key elements of our website.  During Fall 2000, Cathee transferred her Monte Capanno movies onto videotape and generously made copies available to the community.  (It now is also available on DVD).  Cathee has attended all reunions, 2001-05, 2009, and in both 2002 and 2003, Cathee and husband Greig hosted the second Monte Capanno 1970 reunion and the third Monte Capanno 1970 reunion.  For more about Cathee, go here.
• Sandee at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Sandee White, now Sandee Stoltz, is a mother of three adult children who lives on the edge of the wilderness near Butte, MT, works in a children's psychiatric hospital, and enjoys raising horses.  Sandee and daughter Parvati attended the 2002 MC-70 reunion and Sandee can be reached at (email: need update) ; for more about Sandee today, go here.
• Mike White.  In August 2004, Wes Shaffer located Mike, who lives in Astoria NY and is a psychologist working with the New York City police.  From the conversation, Wes reported that Mike "has much to contribute" to the project here at MC-70.  After the experiment at Monte Capanno, Mike served four years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Major.  We hope to be able to share more details on Mike's view of MC-70, and on life since the San Jose State years, once he is able to check out the website and can make direct contact.
• Mary at the June 2002 Monte Capanno reunion
• Mary Zuccaro: Mary Zuccaro, now Mary Charvat, returned from Italy and finished her BA in psych & women's studies in 1976. After working in family planning with Jan Hammond for 7 years, she married a career naval officer she met in Monterey while training for the Oakland Marathon. She went to nursing school in Philadelphia, then lived in Spain for two years. Later, she worked as a psych nurse in Columbia, MD, & a work site wellness nurse in Madison, Wisconsin before settling in the Wheeling, WV area in 1994. She is a happily divorced mother of an 12-year old son and 16-year old daughter, and has been a hospice nurse for six years. She still enjoys cooking pasta for family & friends, reading good books, and exploring eastern spiritual practices.  Mary attended the 2002 MC-70 reunion in Truckee CA, and the 2009 reunion in San Jose (July 2009).  Contact her at: maryzrn@comcast.net
• The Zacks (David Zack, and Maija Peeples-Bright) are discussed extensively elsewhere on this website.  Their sojourns after Monte Capanno remain intriguing, and in David's case, mysterious.  Several sources have reported that they remained together as a couple only briefly, and in Saskatchewan, Canada in the early 1970s.  We know that they once visited Kathy Roberts and Craig Morem in British Columbia.  David continued to be a contributor to Art News and other mainstream art publications. Web sources discussing the artist Clayton Bailey refer to David and Maija as important figures in contributing to, or chronicling, the "Nut Art" movement in the 1970s.

Other sources have reported David to have been affiliated with the Tepoztlan Immortality Centre in Mexico in the mid-1980s, and with the somewhat zany artform known as "Mail-Art" or "Correspondence Art."  Many sources cite Zack as the originator of the pseudo-artist / communications-phenomenon "Monty Cantsin," a part of the "Neoism" movement.  Early in this retrospective webpage project this reference to David was found: "Zack has been instrumental in Kantor's Monty Cantsin mission in the late 70s. He was an instigator of anarchistic poetical experimentation and an early practitioner of correspondence art. After spending a few years in prison in Mexico, he disappeared in 1995 in Texas without leaving any trace. Most of his works were destroyed by the circumstances of his chaotic life" (for more, see this site). In December 2000, Marti Kramer's diligent detective work produced this response from one of Zack's 'Monte Cantsin' associates: "As far as we 'know' David's dead.  He did about 5 years in a Mexican jail for defrauding the US Government by living off his parent's Social Security checks after they died.  They released him when his untreated diabetes got too severe.  It's my understanding that he was, perhaps, unable to walk by then & that he was put into a nursing home in San Antonio where he died shortly thereafter.  Monty Cantsin in Toronto may be organizing a retrospective tribute to him.  You might want to write to him @ amen@interlog.com if you have anything you want to add to it.  Mark Bloch in NYC & Patty Ackerman were, perhaps, the ones to have the longest contact with him at the end. Hope this has been useful." On behalf of the Monte Capanno 1970 project, Mark Fissel then notified that address our our own retrospective (here) about this aspect of David's life; and in January 2001, Istvan Kantor, aka 'Monty Cantsin' (email: amen@interlog.com; or visit Kantor's webpage; or write him at: 1160A Dundas St. East, Toronto Canada M4M 1S1; 416-465-8033) began a multi-year correspondence with us, saying: "I'm happy to hear from you; yes I'm trying to put together a book/exhibition on David's life work;  I know Zack since 1976 when we first met in Budapest/Hungary, we collaborated on many projects throughout the 70's, 80's, until his death in 1995 (emphasis added), I have an archive of his works that would be the base of the exhibition/book, but it's still in preparatory stage without any concrete place or publisher, anyway, I would be very interested to learn more from you concerning your experience with David Zack as a student, I would be also delighted to know more about your present academic involvements, I wish you a happy new year, many regards, Istvan Kantor(aka Monty Cantsin)."  Through these and other contacts, the webmasters began an ongoing correspondence with two daughters of David Zack, Zoe and Rose.  In August 2004, Rose reported that she was assisting Kantor in organizing a forthcoming retrospective show about the work of David Zack, scheduled to occur on October 10, 2008, at the New Gallery in Calgary, Alberta (Canada).  In April 2005, Rose Zack sent Xeroxes of a set of Zack's writings and memorabilia from the 1970s to the Bowens; and in 2008, she provided many additional materials to us.  Included here now are Zack's resume, an extensive set of poems by Zack, a revealing 1979 letter by Zack's mother to one of his ex-wives (Ruth, Rose's mother), and many other materials all of which are linked to the May 23, 2008 entry on the "What's New" page here at Monte Capanno 1970. 

Members of our community are encouraged to make further individual contact with Kantor and to participate in building the David Zack retrospective project and exhibits. 

Additionally, Rose Zack wrote this to us in April 2005: "I am in possession of what remains of David's personal papers.  Most of it was thrown away at my mother's insistence about 15 years ago.  I have been told that David had a large archives at his parents house in Tepoztuan, Mexico.  Al Ackerman might know... David also wrote a significant article on 'Mail Art' for Art in America in Jan. 1972 or 1973... A colleague of his, Istvan Kantor, recently received Canada's Governor General's Award for visual art.  He discusses David in several interviews, including a recent article in Canadian Art magazine.  Istvan is working on an exhibit about David, possibly in Calgary.  I'll keep you posted on developments.  I've got other writing from the '70's, as well as photos from the 70's and 90's... David lives on through his 6 children, 3 grandchildren, students, fellow artists, and friends."

Some among David's friends, however, have expressed doubt in the voracity of these reports concerning Zack's demise; see for example John Dean's skeptical review on this issue.  Rose, on the other hand, is completely confident that David is in fact deceased.  In June 2005, she wrote to us on this, saying it was her sister,

"Rachel that visited David several times while he was in Texas.  Rachel is David's daughter from his first marriage to Gwen, whom he married while an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago and left while teaching in Puerto Rico.

"David was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 10 and was not expected to live into old age.  His condition, along with his lifestyle and prison stay in Mexico, has surely resulted in his demise.  Of course, I can not confirm any this; he abandoned his 5 children (plus Rachel 10 years earlier) and never contacted any of us again, with the exception of Rachel, whom I have only been in contact with for about 4 years."

Maija and husband Billy Bright at the 2005 Monte Capanno reunion

• Maija: Known worldwide for her "beasties" and other oil paintings,  Maijia Zack now is known as Maija Peeples-Bright.   Maija attended the 2005 Monte Capanno 1970 reunion. 

Finding Maija was a bit of a detective story.  A website devoted to the papier mache artist David Gilhooly referred to Maija Peeples as formerly  married to David Zack.  Maija later confirmed that she is married to Billy Bright, who accompanied her to the 2005 reunion.  That same Gilhooly website also included a picture of Rainbow House, (reproduced above) on Steiner St. n the Fillmore District of San Francisco, where the Monte Capanno group first met with, and partied with the owners, David and Maija, and their friends including Gilhooley, Clayton Bailey (note Bailey's fiberglass alligator above the door of the Rainbow House), and the famous "Zap Comix" cartoon artist Steve (a.k.a. "S. Clay") Wilson.  A November 1999 photo of Maija Peeples then was found in Clayton Bailey's archive of photos; and in Sept. 2000, Maija corresponded first with Mark Fissel.  Go here for Maija's 2000 wedding picture with Billy, and here to view a piece of her art from 1968 provided to us in 2008 by an old friend of hers from those days.  Since then the webmasters and Maija have enjoyed a lively correspondence and some face-to-face fun reunions.  Maija lives in the Sacramento area and frequently exhibits her diverse art in that region and throughout the world.  Her web address is maijapeeples-bright.com and her email address is maija_is_art@sbcglobal.net.  Some of her work is discussed and appeared in the 2005 book Thirty Years of the Candy Store Gallery: A Tribute to Adeliza McHugh (Davis CA: John Natsoulas Press).  Visit her website to see examples of her art from this period, and the wonderful further development of her art.  Or view here at MC-70 some more of her recent art from summer 2003.