I was a hippie - ran away from home when in high school with my best friend - came back a week later. It was the late 60's - we went to the Old Town area of Chicago, where we stayed in an apartment kept there for a blues band when they were in town (they weren't). We left home because of problems both of us were having within our respective families, most of which really did get solved because of the extreme we took. We didn't get hurt, had no problems but knew we needed to finish school, etc. Sometimes today I wonder what would have happened if we had headed for San Francisco the next week like we originally planned - for sure our lives would have been different!
1968 and the Democratic convention in Chicago- I didn't go down there (planned to, but luckily didn't) - however, I did go several times to the trial of the Chicago 8 which became the Chicago 7 which happened at the convention. This was before cameras in the courtroom. Had to sit outside all night to get in the next day - slept on the sidewalks. I made the news even without cameras - wore a very colorful mini skirt and vest - and had short Twiggy-like hair. They used to have courtroom artists (remember those) that drew the procedures - I made the 10 pm news after one of my trips. And even though it meant cutting school each day I went down there, I got an A in a polical science class because I went down - go figure
(Oh, one of the days I was there - Dustin Hoffman was also there - and I met him in passing. No memory of what was said, etc - just that we spoke and shook hands.)
About the same time period, I met Eric Clapton and Cream. I was a big r&r fan back then - and met lots and lots of musicians over the years - but that meeting stuck in my head for ever. I was maybe 15 or 16 - sat on the side of the stage where the band would play later that night and talked to him like we were old friends. Ginger Baker (the Cream drummer) was already in bad shape on speed back then, and I remember they carried him to his stool behind the durms and then carried him offstage again.
Nope, I never saved any lives that I know of - hopefully never did anything to cause anyone to lose one, either. But I have lots of other stories I've not admitted to here - lol