Terence McKenna was a major bibliophile during his life, as one would expect from someone like him. Terence McKenna had two libraries in his life, and that’s not because he was such a prolific reader but because he was struck with profoundly bad luck. While Terence was abroad, he stored his books in the family home of a friend from Berkeley. In 1970, the area was struck by wildfire, and the house in which the books were stored was reduced to ashes.
Terence went on to eventually assemble a collection of over 2,500 titles. After his death, Terence bequeathed this library to Esalen, the retreat center where he gave many lectures. Esalen, lacking the space to store these books on site, temporarily stored them in an old building nearby. Tragically, in 2007, a sandwich shop below caught fire, spreading to the McKenna library and neighboring businesses.
A great many rare books were lost that day in 2007, but the event was less tragic than it seemed. Dennis McKenna discovered a list of books
