If Ignorance Is Bliss, I Must Have Been Ecstatic

A Remembrance Of 1960

By: D. Larry Patterson

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

I actually wanted to name this book My Favorite Year: 1960, but that is too close to the title of an old movie, so I went with my second choice, If Ignorance Is Bliss, I must Have Been Ecstatic. Third choice was Sex, Booze, an’ Rock ‘N’ Roll. It won’t take the reader too long to understand why all three would have been accurate titles. Over the years, when reminiscing with friends over a few drinks, swapping humorous, alcohol laced anecdotes concerning mutual misadventures of youth, most of my fondest remembrances seem to center around events that took place the spring, summer and fall of 1960. That May, my parents made the tactical error of leaving me alone up to my own devices for a few days. Being fifteen, foolish and fearless, I of course took full advantage of the situation by hosting a wild and wooly malt liquor fueled house party that ended up being one of the most memorable times of my life. What became referred to as “The Weekend” actually kicked off an entire summer of unfettered, full-throttle, hell-raising ribaldry that were equally memorable times. Like a fine wine, fond memories tend to improve with age. The bad is filtered out by time, leaving only the good behind. With each retelling, these recollections grew in size and detail, eventually reaching almost legendary proportions. Therefore, after the passage of over five decades, I decided to remove the beer-goggles, cut through all the bullshit, sort fact from fiction, and finally tell the tale in its entirety, from beginning to end, as it actually went down, no holds barred.