From the President's address in The Heartland News, 8-13-03:

As this is my first opportunity to write in the “president’s corner” I want to devote some space to recollecting some of the history of Baba’s lovers in the Twin Cities. I have had the opportunity to be involved with this group since its inception and thought it would be of some value to bring a historical perspective for those who may be unaware of the rich Baba history in the Twin Cities area. I think it is important to point out that many of Baba’s family who have spent time in the Twin Cities have not been inclined to be involved with or stay involved with group activities. For many, however, it is an important means to keeping Baba at the center of their lives. May Beloved Baba bless us all as we grope in the dark, looking for a glimmer of His light.

I came to Baba in the spring of 1968 and soon found myself in San Francisco in search of a “Baba ashram”. After a short visit with Hank Mindlin, at the Sufism Reoriented Center, (Hank is the composer of the Western Arti), I decided to return to Minnesota to finish my college education. Before heading back, I met with Paula Gordon of the Meher Baba Information League. She had encouraged me to return to Mpls. and start Baba meetings. When I returned, I contacted Myrtle Beach to ask for materials to distribute at the meeting. They told me that a fellow named Stan Witkin was a Baba Lover who had been involved with a Baba group in Florida and was now a student at the U of MN. I contacted Stan and found that he and a small group of interested folks had made a trip to Myrtle Beach the year before. I told him my brother Bob and I were planning to have a Baba meeting. He told me that Dorothy and Tom Hopkinson were living temporarily in the Twin Cities and to call and invite them. When I reached Dorothy, she asked if we would like her and Tom to tell of their meetings with Baba. (Tom was the visiting professor of journalism at the U of M). I said sure, not knowing of the significance of their relationship with Baba. On about October 18, 1968 at Coffman Memorial Union at the U of MN, we had our first public Baba meeting. Dorothy had been secretary to Baba for his travels to England in the 30’s. After recounting their Baba stories, Dorothy told us that she had cabled Baba and told him of our meeting. She paused, and then removed a telegram from her purse and said that Baba had cabled back and said something like this: I am pleased that you are meeting in my love, I will be there with you, tell Pat and Stan that they are my workers. There was a very strong presence in the room as she spoke. About 40 were in attendance that evening.

Shortly after that, Meher Baba dropped his body and the group disbanded. After my return from the Final Darshan in the late spring of 1969, I met Sally and Jerry Pearson and Sally’s brother Paul Wiener. They were sitting in the hallway of a classroom building viewing some material they had just received from the Yogananda Self Realization fellowship. I walked up and asked if they had heard of Meher Baba and, as so often happened in those days, they were immediately intrigued by my story of the God Man. We started meetings again and our first guest was Laura De Lavigne. I had called Myrtle Beach again asking for materials to distribute at meetings and they said Laura, who had been a disciple of Inayat Khan’s, was visiting the Twin Cities and she would be happy to bring the materials and join us for the meeting. Laura had become a disciple of Meher Baba and met him several times at the Meher Spiritual Center.

Then came the “love in” period, with explosive interest in Baba, and large public meetings with Allen Cohen and Harry Kenmore as our special guests. During one of Allen Cohen’s visits we lined up at least 5 radio and T.V. appearances for him to tell the story of Meher Baba and His message about the dangers of drug use. My former wife Pam and I would plaster the west bank of the Univ. of MN with posters and people came to those meetings in large numbers. One evening during one of Allen Cohen’s visits, the television screen was completely filled with the picture of Baba that accompanies his message “Don’t worry, be happy”. Baba seemed to be washing over America like a tidal wave in the late 60’s and early 70’s many of Baba’s current “family in the west” came to Baba during this time and it is remarkable how many have stayed with Him. Waves continue to rise and crest but none quite like during that period just before and after Baba dropped His body.

We met at the home of Jerry and Sally Pearson and the atmosphere was reminiscent of the lyrics from the song Beguine the Beguine. Love was definitely in the air. Music and song were the dominant theme of those meetings with Paul Wiener writing many original love songs to God. Sally and Paul’s mom is Gladys Spratt who became a Baba lover and was the Librarian at the Saroja Library on the Meher Spiritual Center for many years. She is currently retired and living near the center. It was at this time that Steve Cochran and his brother Dennis came into Baba’s orbit. Although Dennis is not a Baba lover, he met his wife Gena who did become a Baba lover. Gena, who was a dancer with Sally and Jerry at the Guild, a dance company run by Nancy Hauser. The guild was the spawning ground for several Baba Lovers, and the site of a performance by the Baba group of Francis Brabazon’s play, The Quest.

While accompanying Dr. Harry Kenmore from the airport during his visit to the Twin Cities, 17 year old Janet Koblas, now Keren Ohr, described her woes to Dr. Kenmore and he shared this compassionate gem with her, “no pain, no gain, chickie!” The meeting with Dr. Kenmore was held once again at the Coffman Memorial Union Student Center. Close to a hundred were able to hear Baba’s Master’s Prayer recited as only Dr. Kenmore could do- booming with conviction and immediacy.

Jon Adelsman turned up around then having just returned from a trip around the world. Jon became our resident “deacon”, with occasional looks of Baptist disdain toward this irreverent band of baby-boomers. Jon also improved the Baba choir considerably. Jon was a licensed social worker and had been involved with the burgeoning human potential movement having spent time at Esalen at Big Sur in California. Jon’s unique combination of Scandinavian guilt and 60’s liberation was the source of much humor and affection.

When Adi K. Irani and Meherji Karkaria visited Chicago in 1970, a bunch of us drove in caravan for our first visit with Baba’s Mandali. We journeyed with recently discovered reverence and were shocked to find them dressed in western clothing and Adi smoking cigarettes! Later, Adi shared as how Baba permitted him “two fingers” of whiskey in the evening.

Sandy Schwanz became involved with the Baba group around this time, having found out about Baba from her brother Kevin. She spent many months in Myrtle Beach and India bringing back wonderful and intimate stories of Kitty from the center and Mehera and the Mandali from India.

Meetings continued at our apartment. I had met Pam Johnson at the first Baba meeting and we married and moved in together and had meetings at our place for the next few years. Pam and I moved out of the cities and Jon Adelsman’s friend Wendell Brustman (Producer of the witness series of video tapes of the Mandali) offered to let the Baba group meet in a lovely old mansion he owned in the city. Meetings continued there for several years with Jerry and Sally accompanying the song fests on the harmonium before they departed for New York to dance with the Nicolai dance company. Sally and Jerry and now Sally and her husband Patrik Widrig, have danced numerous times for the Mandali in India and still have an active dance company in New York. Jerry is head of the dance department at the University of California at Stanford.

This was a rag tag group of Baba lovers who had a strong streak of anarchism running in their veins. Mark Keller had come on the scene, coming to his first Baba meeting when Darwin Shaw was our guest. This gathering was at the home of Kevin and Joan Schwanz. The first Baba lover Mark ever laid his eyes on was Darwin Shaw. Mark is now married to Darwin’s granddaughter Shari. David Silverman had moved to the Twin Cities and he and Jon Adelsman brought certain eccentricities to the group that were counterbalanced by Mark Keller and Harry and Sharon Muir-anarchists supreme! Mark was just finishing a career with the Dudley Riggs Improvisation group. Meetings continued at the homes of Mark Keller, Pat O’Leary and Sandra Sorenson. Sandra and Pat are currently active with Sufism Reoriented. Doug and Katie Makeig were in the Twin Cities then and they hosted meetings in their home.

When Pam and I moved with our 3 children back to the Twin Cities, special occasion meetings were often held at our house where David Silverman would pair off against our very noisy cockatiel birds. Baba disciple Pukar paid a visit to the Twin Cities around this time and the group spent a lovely day with him at the Eloise Butler Rose Gardens. Pukar can be seen on Baba videos as the large burly fellow that Baba uses as a “chair” as he walks the driveway of Guruprasad.

Baba meetings could be an eclectic mix of irreverence and devotion in those days. Beer and revelry marked many a special occasion. Harry and Sharon Muir, who had been part of that now famous Chapel Hill group, had a home in the Twin Cities they called the “sailors nest” which was offered as a refuge for traveling folk singers and Baba lovers. Mary Ellen Lynch stayed with them and their parrots for a period of time. Seems like we could never get away from those exotic birds. David Silverman used to appeal to their potential Baba lover hearts to get them to quiet down. If you know David, you can imagine that scene, David with his pleading eyes, magnified by those big 1970 glasses trying to convince everyone that the birds would quiet down if you just contained your rage and muttered little Baba discourses at them. David had come to the Twin Cities after studying at the University of Chicago. He brought a unique personality to our group. Imagine a computer geek with a heart of gold who could play the piano beautifully and would gaze off into the spiritual hinterlands with tears in his eyes and several pens in the plastic pouch in his pocket! He could drive you crazy with his zeal but melt your heart with his love for Baba. David now lives in Myrtle Beach and is active with that Baba community.

Murshida Ivy Duce made a visit to the Twin Cities in the early 80’s. Wendell and Barbara Brustman owned a furniture company called International Design and the meeting was held in the upper level of their warehouse/sales showroom in downtown Minneapolis. Barbara and Wendell’s son Tom became a Baba lover and spends considerable time in Meherabad.

Carol Kelly showed up around this time and soon met Marj Sucoff. Carol came for a visit with Marj wearing a Baba button and soon Marj was smitten and began her beguine with our Beloved. Marj had been in touch with Don Stevens and invited him to be our guest. That started the next phase of the Twin Cities Baba group. Marj had a proclivity and perhaps a calling for attracting souls who needed special tender loving care. She was a practitioner of a form of healing message and soon began bringing Meher Baba in to her practice. A whole group of Baba lovers grew out of Marj’s unique loving service to Baba.

Marj felt that it would be good to organize those who were attracted to group activity in a more formal bond and with the help of Jack Small and the Chicago Baba group, a charter was drawn up and the group was incorporated as a 501 © 3 non profit organization.

Now some of us get to be presidents and vice presidents and even diplomats. The more recent history of the group is well recorded in past issues of this news letter. By Baba’s grace we will bungle along and try our best to hold fast to His Damaan. - Pat Cook