Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Oral History of Mark Watts |
Collection |
Oral History |
Scope & Content |
In this oral history, field recording specialist, archivist and epigrapher Mark Watts recounts his life and narrates the life story of his father Alan, famous spiritual teacher and former Druid Heights denizen. Born in 1953, Mark grew up in Mill Valley; El Cerrito; and Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. After high school, he attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he studied psychology. Mark recounts how he moved back to California in the early 1970s, where he began helping his father do research and recording his public lectures. Throughout his oral history, Mark shares numerous stories about his father, evokes the milieu of Druid Heights, and poignantly describes his relationship with his father. Following his father's death in 1973, Mark founded the Alan Watts Organization, which houses his father's archive and promotes his teachings. Mark discusses his own family - his wife Tia and their two children Leah and Ken - and then concludes his oral history by sharing his fascination (as an epigrapher) with ancient pictographic languages and symbolism. |
Audio and Transcript |
Click here to hear recording. Click here to read the transcript. |
Dates of Creation |
2018-04-15 |
Interviewee |
Watts, Mark |
Interviewer |
Schwartz, Debra |
Extent and Medium |
Transcript: 55pp Recording: 02:20:47 |
Search Terms |
Alan Watts Organization American Academy of Asian Studies Buddhism Buddhist Temple of Marin Cage, John Campbell, Joseph Dewitt, Dorothy Druid Heights Erdman, Jean Jacobs, Harry Jacobs, Sandy Joseph Campbell Foundation King, Mary Jane Yates McCorkle, Locke MV history - Baby boom years (1950s and early 1960s) MV history - Music and counterculture (1960s and 1970s) Oral history - Spirituality, philosophy, religion Philosophy Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Summers, Roger Watts, Alan Watts, Ken Watts, Leah Watts, Mark Watts, Tia |
Object ID |
2018.028.001 |
Object Name |
Recording |
Copyrights |
Transcript and recording copyright Mill Valley Public Library, 2018. Materials are made available for research purposes only; all rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Public Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication or for any other usage must be obtained from the Library. |