Mark Vonnegut
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Mark Vonnegut, son of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., graduated from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, in 1969 at the age of 21. He briefly worked at Duthie Books and was also briefly chief of a twenty-man detachment of special state police that provided the security for Boston State Hospital. He filed an application with the draft board to be considered a conscientious objector, which was denied. After taking the physical examination, he was given a psychiatric 4F classification and beat the draft. He describes himself in the preface to his book as ‘a hippie, son of a counterculture hero, B.A. in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to schizophrenia…’.
He is the author of The Eden Express, which describes his trip to British Columbia to set up a commune with his friends and his personal experiences with schizophrenia, which he attributes in part to heavy marijuana use. The book is widely cited as useful for those coping with schizophrenia. During this period, he lived mainly at the ‘commune’ at Powell Lake, located 18 kilometres by boat from the nearest road or electricity. On 14th February, 1971, Mark was diagnosed severely schizophrenic, and committed to Hollywood Psychiatric Hospital in Vancouver.
Having first attributed his recovery to orthomolecular (megavitamin) therapy, he later came to the conclusion that he had been manic-depressive for hereditary reasons. He subsequently studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and became a pediatrician in Milton, MA.
Mark was named after Mark Twain. During his undergraduate years, he set out to become a Unitarian minister. Mark is a chess player.
Mark Vonnegut is the brother of Edith Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut.
On a journey through the Amazon, he encountered Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
[edit] External links
- Twisting Vonnegut's views on terrorism -- by Mark Vonnegut, December 27, 2005 -- The Boston Globe
