{"id":1360,"date":"2012-03-29T07:46:58","date_gmt":"2012-03-29T07:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=13684"},"modified":"2012-03-29T07:46:58","modified_gmt":"2012-03-29T07:46:58","slug":"a-tribute-to-peter-mcwilliams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/a-tribute-to-peter-mcwilliams\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tribute to Peter McWilliams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/a-tribute-to-peter-mcwilliams\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/peter-mcwilliams.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"peter mcwilliams\" title=\"peter mcwilliams\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-13708\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/a-tribute-to-peter-mcwilliams\/attachment\/peter-mcwilliams\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-13708\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/peter-mcwilliams-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>\u201cStubbornness is also determination. It&#8217;s simply a matter of shifting from &#8220;won&#8217;t power&#8221; to &#8220;will power.\u201d <br \/> ? <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/71139.Peter_McWilliams\">Peter McWilliams<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The brightest minds are not bound to one area of expertise.\u00a0 True genius transcends departmentalized intelligence and spreads its branches out far and wide.\u00a0 Unfortunately our society seems to have placed an emphasis on the narrow minded expert.\u00a0 We want our athletes to play ball, our entertainers to dance, and our social commentators to discuss single topics.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps not a household name, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Peter McWilliams<\/a> has inspired people from all walks of life.\u00a0 He was raised outside of Detroit in Allen Park, Michigan.\u00a0 After attending<a href=\"http:\/\/www.emich.edu\/?gclid=CNiJivSWi68CFUfd4AodsD4mww\" target=\"_blank\"> Eastern Michigan University<\/a> he found inspiration in <a href=\"http:\/\/paulkrassner.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Krassner<\/a> and his publication <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Realist\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Realist\u201d<\/a>, which was regarded as one of the premiere counter culture publications of modern times.<\/p>\n<p>Peter would quickly become an established writer himself and his diverse skill set was on display even in his early works.\u00a0 Already publishing many works including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page4.html\" target=\"_blank\">insightful poetry<\/a> , in 1974 he wrote, directed, and produced the religious satire movie originally called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0165981\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201c<\/a>The Greatest Story Overtold\u201d under the name Peter Alexander.\u00a0 The movie has since been re-released as<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0165981\/\" target=\"_blank\"> \u201cThe Thorn\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 In 1975 he and Denise Denniston released \u201cThe Transcendental Meditation TM Book\u201d, which enjoyed a three week stay on top of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times<\/a> best sellers list.\u00a0 He would go on to have 5 books in total to make it to the prestigious best seller list. \u00a0 Another early highlight was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haroldbloomfield.com\/books\/lossoflove.html\" target=\"_blank\">How To Survive the Loss of a Love <\/a>which he wrote with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haroldbloomfield.com\/index2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Harold H. Bloomfield<\/a> in 1976 and expanded upon an earlier version Peter wrote in 1971. Already displaying his varied expertise in satire, human emotions and meditation, Peter McWilliams decided to share his proficiency of computers during a period of time where distrust and a lack of user knowledge in how to use computers was at an all time high.\u00a0 In 1982 he released the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page21.html\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Personal Computer Book\u201d and \u201cThe Word Processing Book\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 1990, Peter McWilliams returned to the subject matter that may distinguish him the most, his understanding of humanity, emotion, and coping with pain.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Life-101-Everything-Learned-School-But\/dp\/0931580781\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLife 101: Everything We Wished We Had Learned About Life in School but Didn\u2019t\u201d<\/a> received great reviews and is still available on Amazon.com.\u00a0 True to his nature, the book has been heralded as deep, philosophical and yet easily accessible with a style that resembles conversation instead of condescension.<\/p>\n<p>His next work would be a smooth transition into the political and social commentary realm.\u00a0 The 1993 book titled <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ain%27t_Nobody%27s_Business_If_You_Do\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cAin&#8217;t Nobody&#8217;s Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country\u201d <\/a>was released and still receives positive reviews.\u00a0 The book examines what Mr. McWilliams categorizes as \u201cvictimless crimes\u201d and how people have been hurt tremendously by consensual crimes throughout history.\u00a0 Another major point of the book is that over regulating social behavior produces an environment that is ripe for black markets and organized crime.\u00a0 The book resonated with many, including libertarians who appreciated his views on personal freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>The book makes commentary on marijuana, a victimless crime according to Peter.\u00a0 Coincidentally, this point would hit closer to home than perhaps he had envisioned.\u00a0 In 1996, Peter McWilliams was diagnosed with both <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0001620\/\" target=\"_blank\">AIDS<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0002267\/\" target=\"_blank\">cancer<\/a>.\u00a0 Conventional treatments produced extreme nausea for him and Peter found relief with the use of marijuana.\u00a0 Two years later he would give a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page37.html\" target=\"_blank\"> nationally televised speech at the 1998 Libertarian National Convention<\/a>.\u00a0 The speech was inspirational for many defenders of civil liberties, including those scared to embrace their sexuality.\u00a0 Fourteen years ago was still a difficult period to admit to being gay, but Mr. McWilliams courageously revealed this during his iconic speech.<\/p>\n<p>Peter McWilliams suffered greatly for his open views on medical marijuana.\u00a0 Shortly after his address to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Libertarian party<\/a>, he was arrested for growing marijuana plants that he says he planned to give to caregivers in order to provide relief for patients.\u00a0 He believed he was targeted specifically because of how effectively he was conveying social change and the benefits of medical marijuana.\u00a0 At the time he was helping Todd McCormick write a book titled \u201cHow to Grow Medical Marijuana\u201d.\u00a0 Both men were arrested by federal authorities. A judge ruled that Peter McWilliams could not mention his terminal illness or that he believed that medical marijuana was saving his life during the trial proceedings.\u00a0 He was required to cease using marijuana or his mother would lose her house, which was used as collateral for his bail bond.\u00a0 His extreme nausea returned and although not officially confirmed, it is believed that Peter McWilliams died from choking on excess vomit.<\/p>\n<p>This tragic ending was not befitting of such brilliance.\u00a0 Peter McWilliams had a golden touch with just about anything he encountered.\u00a0 That is why it is so confusing that we can applaud intelligence in one field but then disregard it in another.\u00a0 This was not a lazy man trying to abuse marijuana for recreational pleasure.\u00a0 He embodied the diversity of the marijuana community with such insight and compassion.\u00a0 Peter McWilliams&#8217; mind would not be confined to one area of focus and almost 12 years after his death, his influence is still strong.\u00a0 We were able to speak with Julia who maintains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/\">www.petermcwilliams.org<\/a>, a site dedicated to remembering the great activist.\u00a0 She mentions, as many others have, about Peter\u2019s inviting writing style and that he had a way of directly talking to people as if he knew the reader.\u00a0 When asked how to describe the influence he has had she said \u201cThe fact that 12 years after someone died, it should mean something that people are being touched by his life and still reading his books.\u201d The site has much to offer including a description of Peter\u2019s works including books, photography and other entries not covered in this article.\u00a0 Additionally, the site includes quotes from Peter and many of his well established peers that include <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page193.html\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Krassner, Gary Johnson and Dennis Peron<\/a>.\u00a0 There is also a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page36.html\" target=\"_blank\"> video tribute by Julia<\/a> and much more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/peter-mcwilliams.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"peter mcwilliams\" title=\"peter mcwilliams\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-13708\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/a-tribute-to-peter-mcwilliams\/attachment\/peter-mcwilliams\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-13708\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/peter-mcwilliams-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>\u201cStubbornness is also determination. It&#8217;s simply a matter of shifting from &#8220;won&#8217;t power&#8221; to &#8220;will power.\u201d <br \/> ? <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/71139.Peter_McWilliams\">Peter McWilliams<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The brightest minds are not bound to one area of expertise.\u00a0 True genius transcends departmentalized intelligence and spreads its branches out far and wide.\u00a0 Unfortunately our society seems to have placed an emphasis on the narrow minded expert.\u00a0 We want our athletes to play ball, our entertainers to dance, and our social commentators to discuss single topics.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps not a household name, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Peter McWilliams<\/a> has inspired people from all walks of life.\u00a0 He was raised outside of Detroit in Allen Park, Michigan.\u00a0 After attending<a href=\"http:\/\/www.emich.edu\/?gclid=CNiJivSWi68CFUfd4AodsD4mww\" target=\"_blank\"> Eastern Michigan University<\/a> he found inspiration in <a href=\"http:\/\/paulkrassner.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Krassner<\/a> and his publication <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Realist\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Realist\u201d<\/a>, which was regarded as one of the premiere counter culture publications of modern times.<\/p>\n<p>Peter would quickly become an established writer himself and his diverse skill set was on display even in his early works.\u00a0 Already publishing many works including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page4.html\" target=\"_blank\">insightful poetry<\/a> , in 1974 he wrote, directed, and produced the religious satire movie originally called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0165981\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201c<\/a>The Greatest Story Overtold\u201d under the name Peter Alexander.\u00a0 The movie has since been re-released as<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0165981\/\" target=\"_blank\"> \u201cThe Thorn\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 In 1975 he and Denise Denniston released \u201cThe Transcendental Meditation TM Book\u201d, which enjoyed a three week stay on top of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times<\/a> best sellers list.\u00a0 He would go on to have 5 books in total to make it to the prestigious best seller list. \u00a0 Another early highlight was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haroldbloomfield.com\/books\/lossoflove.html\" target=\"_blank\">How To Survive the Loss of a Love <\/a>which he wrote with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haroldbloomfield.com\/index2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Harold H. Bloomfield<\/a> in 1976 and expanded upon an earlier version Peter wrote in 1971. Already displaying his varied expertise in satire, human emotions and meditation, Peter McWilliams decided to share his proficiency of computers during a period of time where distrust and a lack of user knowledge in how to use computers was at an all time high.\u00a0 In 1982 he released the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page21.html\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Personal Computer Book\u201d and \u201cThe Word Processing Book\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 1990, Peter McWilliams returned to the subject matter that may distinguish him the most, his understanding of humanity, emotion, and coping with pain.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Life-101-Everything-Learned-School-But\/dp\/0931580781\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLife 101: Everything We Wished We Had Learned About Life in School but Didn\u2019t\u201d<\/a> received great reviews and is still available on Amazon.com.\u00a0 True to his nature, the book has been heralded as deep, philosophical and yet easily accessible with a style that resembles conversation instead of condescension.<\/p>\n<p>His next work would be a smooth transition into the political and social commentary realm.\u00a0 The 1993 book titled <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ain%27t_Nobody%27s_Business_If_You_Do\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cAin&#8217;t Nobody&#8217;s Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country\u201d <\/a>was released and still receives positive reviews.\u00a0 The book examines what Mr. McWilliams categorizes as \u201cvictimless crimes\u201d and how people have been hurt tremendously by consensual crimes throughout history.\u00a0 Another major point of the book is that over regulating social behavior produces an environment that is ripe for black markets and organized crime.\u00a0 The book resonated with many, including libertarians who appreciated his views on personal freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>The book makes commentary on marijuana, a victimless crime according to Peter.\u00a0 Coincidentally, this point would hit closer to home than perhaps he had envisioned.\u00a0 In 1996, Peter McWilliams was diagnosed with both <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0001620\/\" target=\"_blank\">AIDS<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0002267\/\" target=\"_blank\">cancer<\/a>.\u00a0 Conventional treatments produced extreme nausea for him and Peter found relief with the use of marijuana.\u00a0 Two years later he would give a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page37.html\" target=\"_blank\"> nationally televised speech at the 1998 Libertarian National Convention<\/a>.\u00a0 The speech was inspirational for many defenders of civil liberties, including those scared to embrace their sexuality.\u00a0 Fourteen years ago was still a difficult period to admit to being gay, but Mr. McWilliams courageously revealed this during his iconic speech.<\/p>\n<p>Peter McWilliams suffered greatly for his open views on medical marijuana.\u00a0 Shortly after his address to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Libertarian party<\/a>, he was arrested for growing marijuana plants that he says he planned to give to caregivers in order to provide relief for patients.\u00a0 He believed he was targeted specifically because of how effectively he was conveying social change and the benefits of medical marijuana.\u00a0 At the time he was helping Todd McCormick write a book titled \u201cHow to Grow Medical Marijuana\u201d.\u00a0 Both men were arrested by federal authorities. A judge ruled that Peter McWilliams could not mention his terminal illness or that he believed that medical marijuana was saving his life during the trial proceedings.\u00a0 He was required to cease using marijuana or his mother would lose her house, which was used as collateral for his bail bond.\u00a0 His extreme nausea returned and although not officially confirmed, it is believed that Peter McWilliams died from choking on excess vomit.<\/p>\n<p>This tragic ending was not befitting of such brilliance.\u00a0 Peter McWilliams had a golden touch with just about anything he encountered.\u00a0 That is why it is so confusing that we can applaud intelligence in one field but then disregard it in another.\u00a0 This was not a lazy man trying to abuse marijuana for recreational pleasure.\u00a0 He embodied the diversity of the marijuana community with such insight and compassion.\u00a0 Peter McWilliams&#8217; mind would not be confined to one area of focus and almost 12 years after his death, his influence is still strong.\u00a0 We were able to speak with Julia who maintains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/\">www.petermcwilliams.org<\/a>, a site dedicated to remembering the great activist.\u00a0 She mentions, as many others have, about Peter\u2019s inviting writing style and that he had a way of directly talking to people as if he knew the reader.\u00a0 When asked how to describe the influence he has had she said \u201cThe fact that 12 years after someone died, it should mean something that people are being touched by his life and still reading his books.\u201d The site has much to offer including a description of Peter\u2019s works including books, photography and other entries not covered in this article.\u00a0 Additionally, the site includes quotes from Peter and many of his well established peers that include <a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page193.html\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Krassner, Gary Johnson and Dennis Peron<\/a>.\u00a0 There is also a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermcwilliams.org\/page36.html\" target=\"_blank\"> video tribute by Julia<\/a> and much more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1373,355,1374,1375,460,794,1376,294,1377,1378,1379,1156,1380,9,196,360,51,1381,1382,742,1,3,1383,1384,1385],"tags":[3943,2933,3944,3945,3034,3367,3946,2872,3947,3948,3949,3726,3950,2774,2938,2631,3951,3952,3315,3953,3954,3955],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}