Don Lattin is an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and the author of six published books, including ''The Harvard Psychedelic Club'' (HarperCollins 2010) and ''Changing Our Minds — Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy'' (Synergetic Press, 2017) Lattin’s work has appeared in many U.S. magazines and newspapers, including the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' where he worked for two decades as a staff writer covering religion, spirituality and psychology. Lattin taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Journalism at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, where he holds a degree in sociology.

Books

* In ''Shopping For Faith'', Lattin and co-author Richard Cimino aim to expose how the United States shopping mall and consumer-obsessed culture influences religious choices throughout the country. Lattin and Cimino attempt to predict religion’s role in the new millennium. * Lattin’s ''Following Our Bliss'' interprets the American spiritual and religious landscape since the 1960s. ''Following Our Bliss'' argues that the 1960s has had a profound transformative impact in every area of spirituality. This is the first comprehensive look at the spiritual legacy of the 1960s and 1970s as seen through the lives of those raised amid some of the era’s wildest experimentation. * In ''Jesus Freaks'', Lattin tells the story of a January 2005 murder/suicide that sheds new light on the Children of God/ Family International, one of the most controversial religious movements to emerge from the spiritual turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. It is the story of

Ricky Rodriguez Richard P. Rodriguez (born David Moses Zerby; January 25, 1975 – January 9, 2005) was an American member of a religious cult called The Family, formerly known as the Children of God (COG), who murdered one of his childhood sexual abusers, Ange ...

, a child born into the inner sanctum of the Children of God, a cult that sent thousands on a long, strange trip into the messianic fantasy of leader

David Berg David Brandt Berg (February 18, 1919 – October 1, 1994), also known as King David, Mo, Moses David, Father David, Dad, or Grandpa to followers, was the founder and leader of the new religious movement currently known as The Family Internationa ...

and spawned a second generation that still struggles with that legacy. *''The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary,

Ram Dass Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...

Huston Smith Huston Cummings Smith (May 31, 1919 – December 30, 2016) was an influential scholar of religious studies in the United States, He authored at least thirteen books on world's religions and philosophy, and his book about comparative religion, ' ...

, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America'' traces the efforts of four notable players who brought LSD to the attention of the world: Leary, Richard Alpert (later

), Smith, and Weil. They were involved with the experimentation with, and research of, psychedelic drugs in the early 1960s. Leary and Alpert were professors at Harvard starting research on the drugs as having possible benefits for alcoholics and criminals. At the suggestion of Aldous Huxley, religious scholar

was brought in to advise about the possible link to mystical experiences. Andrew Weil was a student at the time and journalist for the Harvard paper - and ultimately exposed the unorthodox drug use to University authorities, resulting in Leary and Alpert leaving Harvard.''The Harvard Psychedelic Club'' (HarperOne 2010)
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Bibliography

Books

* ''Shopping for Faith – American Religion in the New Millennium''. (Co-author with

Richard Cimino Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

Jossey Bass John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

). 1998. *
''Jesus Freaks – A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge''
HarperOne. 2007.
''The Harvard Psychedelic Club''
HarperOne. 2010. * ''Distilled Spirits''. 2012.

Articles

References

External links

Don Lattin's HarperCollins author biography

Don Lattin discusses ''The Harvard Psychedelic Club''
Interview on the 7th Avenue Project radio show {{DEFAULTSORT:Lattin, Don American male writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)