Answer: Ken Kesey



This straw basket for sale at a Kentucky rest stop looks like a nest to me.

Blogger went down today and I see that the comments from yesterday's post disappeared. But an Anonymous poster guessed correctly. The person I was referring to yesterday was Ken Kesey, best known for authoring One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Kesey was inspired to write the book based on his own experience working with patients under the influence of psychedelic drugs at Veterans Hospital. He felt he could relate to them because he'd participated in CIA-sponsored studies involving use of these drugs, and he felt that many of the patients were misunderstood or misdiagnosed.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was published in 1962. In 1963, it was made into a stage play starring Kirk Douglas. Following that success, it was produced as a movie in 1975. Kesey was not happy with the choice of Jack Nicholson in the lead, but everyone else was. The movie earned five Academy Awards including Best Actor and Best Picture.