View source for Wavy Gravy

{{Short description|American entertainer and peace activist}}
{{About|the entertainer|the single by Sasha|Wavy Gravy (instrumental)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Wavy Gravy
| birth_name         = Hugh Nanton Romney Jr.
| image              = ACC The Accent Wavy Gravy passing out free ice cream (3377996458) (cropped).jpg
| alt                = Wavy Gravy
| caption            = Wavy Gravy in 2009
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1936|5|15}}<ref name="Shenk 2015">{{cite book |last=Shenk |first=David |title=Skeleton key : a dictionary for Deadheads |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York |year=2015 |isbn=9781101905630 |oclc=911054461 |url={{Google books|fOq-CQAAQBAJ|page=PT341|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref><ref name="Ticketfly 2016">{{cite web |title=Wavy Gravy's 80th Birthday Celebration (with Wavy in attendance), John Kadlecik & The Terrapin All-Stars, feat. Grahame Lesh & many more - The Ardmore Music Hall - Ardmore, PA - June 11th, 2016 |website=Ticketfly |date=2016-06-11 |url=https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1184305-wavy-gravys-80th-birthday-ardmore/ |access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[East Greenbush, New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = American
| occupation         = {{hlist|[[Activism|Activist]]|[[comedian|Comic]]}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Bonnie Beecher]] |1965}}
| children           = 1
| website            = {{URL|http://wavygravy.net/}}
| signature          = WavyGravy.png
}}

'''Hugh Nanton Romney Jr.''' (born May 15, 1936), known as '''Wavy Gravy''', is an American entertainer and peace [[activism|activist]] best known for his role at [[Woodstock]], as well as for his [[hippie]] persona and [[counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] beliefs.

Romney<!--he did not assume this name until after Woodstock, so should be presented here by name he was known by at the time--> has founded or co-founded several organizations, including the activist [[Intentional community|commune]] the [[Hog Farm]], and later, as Wavy Gravy, [[Camp Winnarainbow]] and the [[Seva Foundation]]. He founded the [[Phurst Church of Phun]] in the 1960s,<ref>{{cite book |last=Romney |first=Hugh |date=1992 |title=Something Good for a Change |url=https://archive.org/details/somethinggoodfor00wavy/page/194 |location=New York, NY |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/somethinggoodfor00wavy/page/194 194–198] |isbn=0312078382 |url-access=registration }}</ref> a secret society of comics and clowns that aimed to support the ending of the [[Vietnam War]] through political theater, and has adopted a [[clown]] persona in support of his political activism, and more generally as a form of entertainment work,{{not verified in body|date=August 2019}} including as the official [[clown]] of the [[Grateful Dead]].

As Wavy Gravy, he has had two radio shows on [[Sirius Satellite Radio]]'s ''[[Jam On]]'' station.  A documentary film based on his life, ''[[Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie]]'', was released in late 2010 to generally positive reviews. Romney was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the [[World Folk Music Association]] in 1992.<ref name="noble">{{Cite book|title=Number #1 : the story of the original Highwaymen|last=Noble|first=Richard E.|publisher=Outskirts Press|year=2009|isbn=9781432738099|location=Denver|pages=265–267|oclc=426388468}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. was born in [[East Greenbush, New York]], on May 15, 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-05-19-9805190309-story.html|title='60S ICON REFLECTS ON HIS LONG, STRANGE TRIP|last=Eng|first=Monica|date=1998-05-19|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref><ref name="Shenk 2015"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shipley|first=Morgan|date=2012-08-15|title=A Conversation with Wavy Gravy|journal=Journal for the Study of Radicalism|language=en|volume=6|issue=2|pages=127–141|doi=10.1353/jsr.2012.0015|s2cid=145011564|issn=1930-1197}}</ref> His father, Hugh Romney Sr., was an architect.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-12-8602110969-story.html|title=Wavy Gravy|last=Witt|first=Linda|date=1986-06-12|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> Romney was raised in early life in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], [[New Jersey]], and by middle school age his family moved to [[West Hartford, Connecticut|West Hartford]], [[Connecticut]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine|last1=Murray|first1=Nick|date=2014-10-17|title=Wavy Gravy Recounts His Bizarre, Star-Crossed Hippie Journey|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/wavy-gravy-recounts-his-bizarre-star-crossed-hippie-journey-241384/|access-date=2020-11-17|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He attended [[Hall High School (Connecticut)|William Hall High School]], graduating in 1954.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-woodstock-50-anniversary-connecticut-attendees-20190815-6kmhq25l5bf7tenocyo2yum3cu-story.html|title=50 years later, West Hartford's Wavy Gravy and other Connecticut festival-goers recall the power of Woodstock|last=Rand|first=Slade|date=2019-08-15|website=Hartford Courant news|access-date=2020-01-02|quote=Twenty years before Woodstock, a young Gravy, then Hugh Romney, moved to West Hartford with his mother and step-father, where he attended middle school. He eventually graduated from Hall High School in 1954 and discovered a love of art at the Wadsworth Atheneum. As a musical theater student at Boston University in the late 1950s, he’d round up musicians and poets who weren’t doing anything on Mondays and drive into Hartford to put on poetry and jazz shows at the Golden Lion.}}</ref> After high school graduation, he volunteered for the [[United States Army]], serving as a [[Sign painting|sign painter]], to take advantage of the [[G.I. Bill]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/pre-wavy-gravy-selected-stops-along-hugh-romney-s-road/|title=Pre-Wavy Gravy: Selected Stops Along Hugh Romney's Road|date=2011-07-07|website=Relix Media|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02|quote=My stepfather was an aide to [General] Omar Bradley and he suggested, “Don’t volunteer for anything but typing and sign making!” So I went into a new company for basic training at Fort Dix [NJ] and, lucky me, they wanted sign painters.}}</ref> He was honorably discharged after 22 months.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Romney entered [[Boston University]] Theater Department in the late 1950s under the [[G.I. Bill]],<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/90/the-depths-of-a-clown|title=The Depths Of A Clown|website=The Sun Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> and then attended the [[Neighborhood Playhouse]] for the Theater in [[New York City]].<ref name=":1" />

In 1958, he began reading poetry regularly at [[The Gaslight Cafe]] in [[Greenwich Village]] in [[New York City]], where he eventually became the cafe's entertainment director, befriending musicians such as [[Bob Dylan]], [[Tom Paxton]], and [[Dave Van Ronk]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Van Laarhoven|first=Kaspar|title=The Story of The Gaslight Cafe, Where Dylan Premiered 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall'|website=Bedford+Bowery|date=December 28, 2016|url=http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/12/the-story-of-the-gaslight-cafe-where-dylan-premiered-a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall/|access-date=August 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He lived with Bob Dylan upstairs at 116 MacDougal Street.<ref name=":2" />

==Career==
His early career was managed by [[Lenny Bruce]] who brought Romney to California in 1962 where he did a live recording of ''Hugh Romney, [[Third Stream]] Humor'' as the opening act for [[Thelonious Monk]] at Club Renaissance in Los Angeles.<ref>Kelley, Robin D.G. ''Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original'' Simon & Schuster 2009 p.320</ref>

===The Hog Farm===
The [[Hog Farm]] collective was established through a chain of events beginning with [[Ken Babbs]] hijacking the [[Merry Pranksters]]' bus, ''[[Furthur (bus)|Furthur]]'', to Mexico, which stranded the [[Merry Pranksters]] in Los Angeles.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} First Romney assembled a collective in [[North Hollywood]], visited by musicians such as [[Ravi Shankar]] and [[Tiny Tim (musician)|Tiny Tim]] (whom he managed).{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

After moving to [[Sunland, Los Angeles|Sunland]], a suburb in the [[San Fernando Valley]], north of Los Angeles, Romney was evicted from his one-bedroom cabin after the landlord discovered that a large group of assorted pranksters and musicians were staying there. Two hours later, a neighbor informed Romney that a nearby hog farm needed caretakers after the farmer had suffered a stroke, and Romney accepted an offer to work at the farm in exchange for rent.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Zekley |first=Mickey |year=1995 |url=http://www.larkcamp.com/adventures1.html |title=The Hog Farm Blues |work=The Adventures Of A Street Musician – Part One}}</ref> Local people, musicians, artists, and members of other communes began staying at the mountain-top farm.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} In his book ''Something Good for a Change'', Gravy described this early period as a "bizarre [[communal experiment]]" where the "people began to outnumber the pigs".{{sfnp|Wavy Gravy|1992|p=229}}

Throughout the mid-1960s, both Romney and his wife, [[Bonnie Beecher]], were employed in Los Angeles. He worked for [[Columbia Pictures]] teaching improvisation skills to actors.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Beecher was a successful television actress, appearing in episodes of ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'', ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', and ''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]''.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

By 1966, the Hog Farm had coalesced into an entertainment organization providing light shows at the [[Shrine Exposition Hall]] in Los Angeles for music artists such as the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and [[Jimi Hendrix]].{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Beginning in 1967, the collective began traveling across the country in converted school buses purchased with  money earned as [[Extra (actor)|extras]] in [[Otto Preminger]]'s feature film ''[[Skidoo (film)|Skidoo]]'' (1968).<ref name=":1" />

The Hog Farm relocated to the Black Oak Ranch in [[Laytonville]], [[Mendocino County]], in [[Northern California]] in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Oak Ranch History |url=http://katewolfmusicfestival.com/black-oak-ranch-history/ |website=Kate Wolf Music Festival |access-date=January 23, 2016 |archive-date=May 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527063246/http://katewolfmusicfestival.com/black-oak-ranch-history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/for-the-earth-goddess/Content?oid=2132343|title=For the Earth Goddess|last=Doran|first=Bob|website=North Coast Journal|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref>

===Woodstock Festival===
At the first [[Woodstock Festival]], Romney and the Hog Farm collective accepted festival executive Stan Goldstein's offer to help with preparations.<ref name="farmfriend">{{cite book |author=Wavy Gravy |title=The Hog Farm and Friends |publisher=Links Press |date=1974 |pages=72–74 |isbn=9780825630149 |location=New York |oclc=947606}}</ref>

Romney<!--see note above, about when in his history the stage name should begin to appear--> called his group the "Please Force," a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order, e.g., "Please don't do that, please do this instead". When asked by the press—who were the first to inform him that he and the rest of the Hog Farm were handling security—what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at the event, his response was "Cream pies and [[Soda syphon|seltzer bottles]]"<ref name="farmfriend"/> (both being traditional clown props). In Gravy's words: "They all wrote it down and I thought, 'the power of manipulating the media', ah ha!"<ref name=Yippie>{{Cite book|title=Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago, '68, to 1984 | author=New Yippie Book Collective | isbn=9780912873008 |publisher=Bleecker Publishing|date=1983}}</ref>

Romney made announcements from the concert stage throughout the festival. He later wrote in his memoir that "the reason that I got to do all those stage announcements was because of my relationship with [[Chip Monck|Chip Monk]] [sic]. Chip built the stage at Woodstock."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Something Good for a Change: Random Notes on Peace Thru Living |author=Wavy Gravy |date=1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312078386 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=25367907 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/somethinggoodfor00wavy }}</ref>

At the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum]]'s psychedelic tribute to the 1960s "[[I Want To Take You Higher]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/exhibitpast/take-you-higher/ |title=The Psychedelic Era |publisher=The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905195019/http://www.rockhall.com/exhibitpast/take-you-higher/ |archive-date=2007-09-05 }}</ref> Romney's sleeping bag and tie-dyed false teeth were displayed. He and [[Paul Krassner]] appeared there on the last day of the exhibit on February 28, 1998.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}

Romney, as Wavy Gravy after the first Woodstock, has been the [[Master of Ceremonies]] of, and the only person to appear on the bill of all three Woodstock festivals: the original festival in 1969, the 25th{{spaces}}anniversary [[Woodstock '94]] festival in 1994, and the 30th{{spaces}}anniversary [[Woodstock '99]] festival in 1999. On the morning of the 20th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, he and author [[Ken Kesey]] were interviewed on ''[[Good Morning America]]'', live from the Bethel concert site, where he discussed his experience as the MC of the event.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

===Wavy Gravy name origin===
At the 1969 [[Texas International Pop Festival]], two weeks after Woodstock, Romney was lying onstage, exhausted after spending hours trying to get festival-goers to put their clothes back on.  He later explained, "They had these conga drummers on the stage, and I said, 'Don't dance on the wavy gravy'. Then someone announced that [[B.B. King]] was there, and he was going to play for free. I started to get up, and I felt this hand on my shoulder and it was B.B. King. And he said, 'Are you Wavy Gravy?' and I just said, 'Yes, sir,' and he said, 'Wavy Gravy, I can work around you.' And he stood me up next to his amplifier, and [[Johnny Winter]] comes from the other side, and they played all night long."<ref name="Dallasnews">{{cite web |author1=Young, Michael E. |author2=Appleton, Roy |date=August 30, 2009 |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/083009dnmetlewispopnotes.40d6864.html |title=Texas International Pop Festival Was Full of Surprises for Artists, Fans, Onlookers |work=The Dallas Morning News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003205142/https://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/083009dnmetlewispopnotes.40d6864.html |archive-date=October 3, 2009 |access-date=January 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>Interview {{who|date=July 2011}} on ''[[Late Night with Jimmy Fallon]]'', 26 May 2011.</ref> Romney said he considered this a mystical event, and assumed Wavy Gravy as his legal name.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.wavygravy.net/bio/biography.html|title=About - Wavy Gravy|website=wavygravy.net|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602135326/http://www.wavygravy.net/bio/biography.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=August 2019}}

===Phurst Church of Phun and clowning===
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2019}}
After frequent arrests at demonstrations, Wavy Gravy decided that his arrest would be less likely if he dressed as a clown. Romney therefore co-founded the [[Phurst Church of Phun]] in 1960 as a secret society of comics and clowns dedicated to ending the Vietnam War through the use of political theater. Romney also performs more generally as a clown, including entertaining children, work that includes such traditional clown activities as joke-telling and magic tricks. As Wavy Gravy, he has served as an official [[clown]] of the [[Grateful Dead]].{{when|date=August 2019}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/explore/ady.cfm?day=18&month=3&year=2006|title=Arts Days|website=The Kennedy Center Arts Edge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401051000/http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/explore/ady.cfm?day=18&month=3&year=2006|archive-date=April 1, 2007|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>

===Art===
Wavy Gravy has also been recognized for his work as a [[collage]] artist, with work presented at a solo exhibition in April 1999 at the Firehouse Gallery in New York under gallery owner Eric Gibbons.<ref>{{Cite news |title=On the Towns; Going Out |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 4, 1999 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/04/nyregion/on-the-towns-going-out.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=24 October 2012 }}</ref> He had an exhibition, entitled ''Wavy Gravy Retrospective'' (1996), at the Firehouse Gallery of Bordentown, New Jersey.

He began exploring collage in the early 1960s, and his first works were created in the period where he lived above the Gaslight in Greenwich Village; he has stated that he was inspired by a [[Max Ernst]] collage he saw at the Bitter End, when he opened for [[Peter, Paul and Mary]].{{when|date=August 2019}}{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} His collage work includes larger pieces done for celebrities in the [[San Francisco]] Bay Area.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

===Neo-pagan appearances===
Wavy Gravy's first appearance at an event in the [[Neo-Pagan]] community was at the WinterStar Symposium in 1998 with [[Paul Krassner]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://murugabooker.com/ace.html |title=Expanding The Frontiers Of Your Consideration |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928075503/http://murugabooker.com/ace.html |archive-date=2007-09-28}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2018}} He appeared there again in 2000 with [[Phyllis Curott]], where he joined Rev. [[Ivan Stang]] in a joint ritual of the [[Church of the SubGenius]] and his Church of the Cosmic Giggle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/the-activist-clown-hippie-icon-wavy-gravy-talks-about-the-seva|title=The activist clown & hippie-icon, Wavy Gravy talks about the Seva Foundation, Woodstock, Grateful Dead, Buddha & Nikos Kazatzakis|first1=2012 at 2:00pm|last1=Posted by Michael Limnios Blues Network on January 12|first2=View|last2=Blog|website=blues.gr}}</ref>

==Ventures==
===Seva Foundation===
Wavy Gravy co-founded the [[Seva Foundation]] in 1978, along with spiritual leader [[Ram Dass]] and public health expert [[Larry Brilliant|Dr. Larry Brilliant]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/08/mickey-hart-jackson-browne-bonnie-raitt-perform-at-seva-foundation-fundraiser/|title=Mickey Hart, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt perform at Seva Foundation fundraiser|date=2019-01-08|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/business/30charity.html|title=Google Finds It Hard to Reinvent Philanthropy|last1=Strom|first1=Stephanie|date=2011-01-29|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-02|last2=Helft|first2=Miguel|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/23/us/ap-us-obit-ram-dass.html|title=Baba Ram Dass, Spiritual Guru and LSD Proponent, Dies at 88|date=2019-12-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Based in [[Berkeley, California]], Seva Foundation is an international health organization working to build sustainable sight restoration programs in many of the globe's most under-served communities.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.petaluma360.com/entertainment/8437281-181/wavy-gravy-goes-hog-wild|title=Wavy Gravy goes hog wild in Petaluma|date=2018-06-21|website=Petaluma Argus Courier|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> Gravy is famous for throwing all-star [[benefit concert]]s regularly featuring members of the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Jackson Browne]], [[David Crosby]], [[Graham Nash]], [[Ani DiFranco]], [[Ben Harper]], [[Elvis Costello]], and many other musicians.<ref name=":4" />

===Camp Winnarainbow===
Gravy co-founded, with his wife, the circus and performing arts camp [[Camp Winnarainbow]], now located in [[Laytonville, California]] near the Hog Farm.{{When|date=January 2020}}<ref name="auto" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Vinny|date=2015|title=Seeing is Believing - The Story of Wavy Gravy and SEVA Foundation|url=https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/cms/pages/sonoma-county-news-article-3798.html|access-date=2020-01-02|website=Sonoma County Gazette|archive-date=October 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001114502/http://www.sonomacountygazette.com/cms/pages/sonoma-county-news-article-3798.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He co-ran the camp alongside Txi Whizz (also known as Barbara Hanna), his "right-hand woman".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bender|first=Kristen|date=6 July 2004|title=Adults learn wacky life lessons|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2004/07/06/adults-learn-wacky-life-lessons/|access-date=16 October 2021|website=East Bay Times}}</ref>

=== "Tornado of Talent" ===
In September 1981 there was an [[Anti-nuclear protests|anti-nuclear protest]], which included trespassing, blockade, occupation, and [[civil disobedience]] action at [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant]], organized by the [[Abalone Alliance]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=King|first=Peter H.|date=20 September 1981|title=N-Protests Grid for Big New Assault|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/461106031/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2021-10-21|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=[[The San Francisco Examiner]]|pages=1, 20|language=en}}</ref> Approximately 640 protesters were arrested, and Wavy Gravy and [[Jackson Browne]] were in attendance.<ref name=":6" />

Browne was able to have an acoustic guitar and performed in the gymnasium at [[Cuesta College]]; where the male incarcerated were being held.<ref name=":6" /> Gravy organized and acted as MC for a variety show there that he called the, "Tornado of Talent". Wavy arrived at the holding facility dressed in a pair of bright green coveralls. After settling into his "bunk" (a thin mattress on the gym floor) he removed the coveralls to reveal a Santa Claus suit.

=== Nobody for President and Nobody's Business ===

<blockquote>"Wavy Gravy nominated ''Nobody'' for president at the "Yippie National Convention" outside the Republican National Convention in Kansas City in 1976. It was the second time the Hog Farm had nominated a candidate for the Presidency, following the nomination of the hog, Pigasus, eight years prior.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nobody for President '84 Bumper Sticker |url=https://www.blackoakranch.com/product-page/nobody-for-president-84-bumper-sticker |website=Black Oak Ranch |language=en |access-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701200403/https://www.blackoakranch.com/product-page/nobody-for-president-84-bumper-sticker |url-status=dead }}</ref>"</blockquote>

Wavy Gravy ran a "[[Nobody for President]]" campaign that held a rally across from the [[White House]] on November 4, 1980, which included [[Yippies]] and a few [[anarchist]]s to promote the option of "none of the above"  choice on the ballot—as in, "Nobody's Perfect", "Nobody Keeps All Promises", "Nobody Should Have That Much Power", and "Who's in Washington right now working to make the world a safer place? Nobody!".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nobodyforpresident.org/|title=Nobody for President, 2020 [Official Pages]|website=www.nobodyforpresident.org|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | date = October 12, 1976 | title = Nobody For President | work = HeadCount.org | url = http://www.headcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Nobody-for-President.jpg }}{{full citation needed|date=August 2019}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=August 2019}} After criticizing [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[John B. Anderson]], the committee offered the "perfect" candidate:&nbsp;Nobody. "Nobody makes apple pie better than Mom. And Nobody will love you when you're down and out," Gravy told a crowd of 50 onlookers at the rally.<ref>{{cite journal | date = November 5, 1980 | title = Anarchists Push Cause of 'None of the above' | journal = The New York Times }}{{full citation needed|date=August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wholeearth.com/issue/2061/article/271/20th.anniversary.rendezvous.-.wavy.gravy|author=Gravy, Wavy|title=20th Anniversary Rendezvous—Wavy Gravy|publisher=Whole Earth Review|website=WholeEarth.com|date=Winter 1988|access-date=August 16, 2018|archive-date=July 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720143046/http://www.wholeearth.com/issue/2061/article/271/20th.anniversary.rendezvous.-.wavy.gravy|url-status=dead}}{{third-party inline|date=August 2019}}</ref> The allusion had been used previously, in the 1932 short film ''[[Betty Boop for President]]''.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Gravy established the store Nobody's Business across the road from the Hog Farm.{{when|date=August 2019}}<ref>{{cite journal | author = Brown, Jonathan | date = October 25, 2007 | title = Still hippy after all these years | journal = The Independent | location = London, England | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/still-hippy-after-all-these-years-395296.html }}{{full citation needed|date=August 2019}}</ref> reminiscent of his "Nobody for President" campaign.

== Personal life ==
[[File:Wavy Gravy and Jahanara Romney.jpg|thumb|Wavy Gravy and his wife, Jahanara Romney (July 2013)]]
He was briefly married to a "Frenchwoman" in the early 1960s; the marriage ended in divorce.<ref name=":1" />

In 1965, Wavy Gravy married the actress [[Bonnie Beecher|Bonnie Jean Beecher]], who later adopted the name Jahanara Romney.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/movies/08saint.html|title='Saint Misbehavin' - The Wavy Gravy Movie' - Review|last=Holden|first=Stephen|date=2010-12-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|quote=In 1965 Mr. Romney married Bonnie Jean Beecher, who later became Jahanara Romney and has been his wife for 45 years. We meet his cheerful son, Howdy Do-Good Gravy Tomahawk Truckstop Romney, later changed to Jordan, who was born on the seat of a Greyhound bus.}}</ref> They have a son, born in 1971 as Howdy Do-Good Gravy Tomahawk Truckstop Romney, who has since become known as Jordan Romney.<ref name=":3" />

==Radio programs==
{{expand section|with=further details about this substantive career activity|small = no|date=August 2019}}
As Wavy Gravy, he has had two radio shows on [[Sirius Satellite Radio]]'s ''[[Jam On]]'' station.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=https://www.lifewire.com/sirus-satellite-radio-personalities-2844372 |author=Deitz, Corey |date=June 19, 2018 |title=Sirius XM Satellite Radio Personalities |website=Lifewire |access-date=July 29, 2018}}</ref>

*''Gravy in Your Ear'': Gravy's radio show airing on the 15th of each month (including his birthday on the 15th of May) on Sirius Satellite Radio, with several re-broadcasts.<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*''The Wavy Files'': a series of individual commentary segments by Gravy placed randomly throughout the ''Jam On'' programming on Sirius Satellite Radio.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Filmography
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Type
!Notes
|-
|1963
|''The Fat Black Pussycat''
|Assistant Detective (as Hugh Romney)
|Film
|Detective film
|-
|1970
|''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]''
|Himself
|Film
|Documentary film
|-
|1972
|''[[Cisco Pike]]''
|Reed (as Hugh Romney)
|Film
|<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/cisco-pike/cast/110931|title=Cisco Pike|website=TVGuide.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref>
|-
|1994
|''Flashing on the Sixties: A Tribal Document''
|Himself
|Television
|
|-
|1995
|''The History of Rock 'N' Roll'', Vol. 6
|Himself
|Television
|
|-
|1997
|''Timothy Leary's Last Trip'' 
|Himself
|Film
|Film takes place at the "Pig-Nic" at the Hog Farm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/timothy-learys-last-trip-1798195547|title=Timothy Leary's Last Trip|website=Film|date=March 29, 2002 |language=en-us|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref>
|-
|1999
|''The '60s''
|
|Film
|
|-
|2000
|''My Generation''
|Himself
|Film
|
|-
|2001
|''The End of the Road'' 
|Himself
|Film
|
|-
|2001
|''Ram Dass, Fierce Grace''
|Himself
|Film
|
|-
|2005
|''The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose''
|
|Film
|
|-
|2006
|''Breaking the Rules'' 
|Himself
|Film
|
|-
|2008
|''[[Battleground Earth]]''
|Himself
|Television
|episode "Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee"
|-
|2008
|''[[Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo]]''
|Himself
|Film
|[[Mockumentary|Mockumentary film]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metroactive.com/bohemian/01.02.08/music-claypool-0801.html|title=Les Claypool's 'Electric Apricot'|last=Meline|first=Gabe|date=2008-01-02|website=www.metroactive.com|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref>
|-
|2009
|''[[Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie]]''
|Himself
|Film
|Documentary film, directed by Michelle Esrick and released by Ripple Effect Films.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ww2.kqed.org/pressroom/2011/10/03/the-true-story-of-a-cultural-phenomenon-the-wavy-gravy-movie-saint-misbehavin-on-kqeds-truly-ca/|title=The true story of a cultural phenomenon: The Wavy Gravy Movie: Saint Misbehavin' on KQED's Truly CA|last=Gandy|first=Meredith|date=2011-10-03|website=KQED's Pressroom|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Hartlaub, Peter|date=December 3, 2010|title='Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie' review|url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Saint-Misbehavin-The-Wavy-Gravy-Movie-review-2454774.php|access-date=April 15, 2018|website=SFGATE}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Rickman, Gregg|date=December 8, 2010|title=Wavy Gravy Portrait Keeps Up the Clown's Disguise|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-12-08/film/wavy-gravy-portrait-keeps-up-the-clown-s-disguise/?ref_=ttexrv_exrv_2|url-status=dead|journal=[[The Village Voice]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630135919/http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-12-08/film/wavy-gravy-portrait-keeps-up-the-clown-s-disguise/?ref_=ttexrv_exrv_2|archive-date=June 30, 2013|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>
|-
|2009
|''Woodstock: Now & Then''
|Himself
|Film
|
|-
|2019
|''Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation''
|Himself
|Film
|Documentary film by director Barak Goodman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://48hills.org/2019/05/wavy-gravy-woodstock/|title=Call the 'Please Force': Wavy Gravy revisits Woodstock in new doc|last=Rotter|first=Joshua|date=2019-05-29|website=48 hills|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/woodstock/|title=Woodstock {{!}} American Experience|date=2019|website=PBS|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref>
|-
|2021
|"Saint Stupid The Movie recut"
|Himself
|Film by Bishop Joey
|https://vimeo.com/547299331?ref=em-share
|}

==  Books ==
* {{Cite book|title=The Hog Farm and Friends|last=Gravy|first=Wavy|publisher=Links Books|others=Foreword by [[Ken Kesey]]|year=1974|isbn=0-8256-3014-2|location=New York City, New York}}
* {{Cite book|title=Something Good for a Change: Random Notes on Peace Thru Living|last=Gravy|first=Wavy|publisher=St Martins Press|year=1992|isbn=0-312-07838-2|location=New York City, New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/somethinggoodfor00wavy}}

==Recordings==
* {{Cite AV media|title=Beat Generation Jazz Poetry, Folk Lyrics, John Brent, Len Chandler and Hugh Romney at the Gaslight, Greenwich Village|date=1960|type=LP|language=en|publisher=Musitron Records|place=New York City, New York}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lpcoverlover.com/2008/07/12/cooking-at-the-gaslight/ |title=Village voices|date=12 July 2008|publisher=lpcoverlover.com|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>
* ''Third Stream Humor'' (as Hugh Romney), World Pacific (1962)
* ''Old Feathers, New Bird: The 80s Are the 60s Twenty Years Later'', Wavy Gravy, Relix (1988)
* ''[[Bear's Sonic Journals: Sing Out!]]'', various artists, recorded April 25, 1981 at the Berkeley Community Theater, released February 23, 2024 by the Owsley Stanley Foundation

== Recognition ==
[[Ben & Jerry's]] ''Wavy Gravy'' ice cream flavor is named for Romney. Until 2001, [[Ben & Jerry's]] produced an ice cream named "Wavy Gravy" (caramel-[[cashew]]-[[Brazil nut]] base with a chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl and roasted almonds) which helped drive a scholarship fund for underprivileged kids to attend his [[Camp Winnarainbow]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/wavy_gravy.html |title=Wavy Gravy 1960's icon and activist |author=Miserandino, Dominick A.  |website=TheCelebrityCafe.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060101031505/http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/wavy_gravy.html |archive-date=January 1, 2006 |access-date=July 29, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pener |first1=Degen |title=EGOS & IDS; Tie-Dye With Gravy Strains |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/24/style/egos-ids-tie-dye-with-gravy-strains.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=24 May 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |author1=Ben & Jerry's |title=RIP: Ice Cream Mourners Pay their Respects at Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rip-ice-cream-mourners-pay-their-respects-at-ben--jerrys-flavor-graveyard-300727451.html |website=prnewswire.com |access-date=27 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hubbard |first1=Thomas |title=Company Background: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. |url=https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/hubbard/htm/research/ec174/benjer2.htm |website=Econ 174 |publisher=[[Kellogg School of Management]] |access-date=27 March 2022}}<!--  https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/hubbard/htm/research/--></ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Desborough |first1=Jenny |title=All the Ben & Jerry's Ice cream flavors that have been discontinued |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ben-jerrys-graveyard-discontinued-ice-cream-flavors-1638042 |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=Newsweek |date=12 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What It's Like to Be a Ben & Jerry's Flavor Guru |url=https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/what-does-a-ben-jerry-s-flavor-guru-do |website=Thrillist |date=January 19, 2015 |access-date=27 March 2022 |language=en |quote=...Peter Lind lives it every day. Lind is one of five Ben & Jerry's Flavor Gurus whose days are filled with ice cream development and tasting.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rainforest Crunch |url=https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/rainforest-crunch |website=Ben & Jerry’s |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327205604/https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/rainforest-crunch |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Final resting place of Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy ice cream |url=https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/wavy-gravy |website=Ben & Jerry's |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110193816/https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/wavy-gravy |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What Happened to Wavy Gravy? |url=https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2014/wavy-gravy |website=Ben & Jerry’s |access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ben & Jerry's embarrassed by scoop over nuts |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-07-28-1995209002-story.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=Baltimore Sun |quote=Several months later, Ben & Jerry's began quietly removing the claims from its Rainforest Crunch labels. "It would be misleading at this time to imply that 100 percent of the profits from 100 percent of the nuts would be used to help Xapuri," Mr. Cohen admitted in a recent interview.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=benandjerrys |title=Ben & Jerry's on Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/status/972560432295800832 |website=Twitter |access-date=27 March 2022 |language=en |quote=How many of you remember Wavy Gravy? This nutty flavor is one of only a very few to ever be resurrected from the Flavor Graveyard. Get the full story here >> t.co/KiALQVOCeH #peaceloveicecream t.co/Tq4Kj3j7n4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Calta |first1=Marialisa |title=OUT THERE: WATERBURY, VT.; The Ice-Cream Sorcerer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/21/style/out-there-waterbury-vt-the-ice-cream-sorcerer.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=21 March 1993}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=October 2022}}

==See also==
* [[List of peace activists]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{official website|https://wavygravy.net/}}
* [https://www.campwinnarainbow.org/ Camp Winnarainbow]
* [http://www.seva.org/ Seva Foundation]
* {{YouTube|L55m4kjfRro|Wavy Gravy video from Seventh Hour Blues}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070520070738/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5052096054843836584&q=goldpants%2Bproductions Wavy Gravy's 70th Birthday Bash]
* {{IMDb name|0739705}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170914034755/http://www.savagewatch.com/westhartfordcelebs.html Wavy Gravy High School Yearbook Photograph]

{{Woodstock}} 
{{Historic rock festival}}
{{Rock festival}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wavy Gravy}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Activists from California]]
[[Category:Activists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American SubGenii]]
[[Category:American street performers]]
[[Category:American clowns]]
[[Category:American pacifists]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Hall High School (Connecticut) alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous comedians]]
[[Category:People from East Greenbush, New York]]
[[Category:People from Greenwich Village]]
[[Category:People from Princeton, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from West Hartford, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Relix Records artists]]
[[Category:Yippies]]
[[Category:Activists from Berkeley, California]]