Tonight at 7p Heather Donahue, star of The Blair Witch Project, will be here with her new memoir about ditching Hollywood life to become a marijuana grower (and find a new inner peace along the way), Growgirl. She talked to The View yesterday about her experience, and you can catch her here in person tonight reading from the book, taking questions and signing copies.
BookPerson Danielle read the book and has this review:
I haven’t seen The Blair Witch Project, and, as the offspring of bonafide hippies, pot culture has so little appeal to me, it’s better categorized as revulsion.
So why did I grab an advance reader of Growgirl? The answer is in the question: Why? It was enough to get me to pick up the book, and hippie-culture and Blair aside, I’m glad that I did.
Growgirl recounts Heather’s spirited triumphs and failures (more of the second than of the first) during her year as a medical marijuana grower in Nuggettown, California. At first I was annoyed with the rampant hippie-isms, but very early on I clued in to the fact that Heather, too, acknowledges the absurdities, and is laughing along with us at the situations she finds herself in.
It takes guts to do what Donahue did—pack up her identity, place all her eggs squarely in one basket, and let the adventure run its course. Humiliation dogs her like a persistent case of poison oak, and she trucks along with a plucky stick-to-it-of-ness and sense of humor I admire. While the setting was foreign, the lesson is not: keeping her head surprisingly clear—which must have been tough with all those fumes—she discovers that the journey isn’t about answering “What am I going to do with myself?” but instead, “Who am I?” The inner peace she finds is the best any of us can hope for.
BookPeople 
Really enjoyed this review, especially the perspective of someone who clearly has had enough of the hippy life-style to last them a life-time. Good to know that this book doesn’t take itself too seriously but still has a deeper layer to it.
Julie: I’m in the midst of building a comprehensive hippie movement history site called Thank A Hippie.It’s a multi-media resource on the sixties, with video, photos, audio, and lots of links to books, music, and online information that explores the history of the hippie movement and its impact on life today. I’d love to hear your perspective on being “the offspring of bonafide hippies,” what “rampant hippie-isms: are annoying, what your folks are up to as “old hippies,” etc. I’m happy to give you a link back in some fashion for a contribution in some form. You can comment on my site or email me at thank.a.hippie@gmail.com.
Love and Peace!
Hi George – Fellow bookseller Danielle wrote that review. I’ll pass along your message to her. Thanks!