c o n t i n u e d f r o m p g 9... out to shoot Wavy at Camp Winnarainbow or at a benefit concert <strong>for</strong> SEVA, <strong>the</strong> foundation he co-founded to restore <strong>the</strong> sight of poor people in India. Her determination, Esrick said, was powered by an almost spiritual <strong>for</strong>ce. “This film came out of a true calling from knowing one of <strong>the</strong> most amazing people I’ve ever met. It wasn’t like I said, you know, I want to be a documentary filmmaker.” Wavy found himself impressed by <strong>the</strong> first-time director. “The years went by and <strong>the</strong>y just kept doing it. And doing it. And every time I was doing something, somehow <strong>the</strong>y’d get someone in to catch <strong>the</strong> footage. And tenaciously.” When Esrick tapped documentary legend DA Pennebaker as executive producer of <strong>the</strong> project, Wavy chucked any final reservations and became a cheerleader <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> project, encouraging friends like Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir, spiritualist Ram Dass and Dr. Patch Adams to sit <strong>for</strong> interviews. Even when more established filmmakers came to him with proposals, Wavy swatted <strong>the</strong>m away, in favor of Esrick. By <strong>the</strong> completion of principal photography, Esrick had an embarrassment of riches. More than 300 hours of footage was enhanced by <strong>the</strong> best of 100 hours of archival footage, a good portion of it home movies of <strong>the</strong> 1970 Hog Farm bus odyssey from London to <strong>the</strong> Himalayas and Eastern Europe to offer messages of selfempowerment and peace, as well as crucial medical care provided by longtime friend Dr. Larry Brilliant. Wavy had an epiphany on <strong>the</strong>se caravan journeys: “We’re all <strong>the</strong> same people trying to shake hands with ourselves. But war is a complicated way of getting acquainted.” It would take Esrick and Emmy Award-winning PBS editor Karen K. H. Sim two years to shape <strong>the</strong> expansive material to a compact 87 minutes. (The DVD release, Esrick said, will carry as many hours of bonus material as allowed.) Wavy praises <strong>the</strong> final product. “I think that my goosebumps got goosebumps when I saw it first. I had to pick my chin up off <strong>the</strong> floor.” But <strong>the</strong> man who describes himself as “a psychedelic relic” insists that he is simply a supporting player in <strong>the</strong> larger story. “It’s just not about me; it’s about hippiedom and peace, love and understanding. I am just a cog in <strong>the</strong> hog.” “It’s not just about that era, although that was an amazing era, and a lot of people have kind of written it off. But if you look at it and examine it, you’ll see what came out of that era is not only peace and love, but ecology, <strong>the</strong> women’s movement, fashion. The beat goes on and on and on. So many things. It was fertile soil and we actually began to work toward making a better world.” Saint Misbehavin’ celebrates, but does not canonize, Wavy Gravy. His wife Janahara provides <strong>the</strong> bedrock to his life, firmly but gently reeling in his excesses, much like Pete Seeger’s wife Toshi has been his guiding light. But nei<strong>the</strong>r does <strong>the</strong> film harp on Wavy's shortcomings. 10 | rollmagazine.com “At <strong>the</strong> end, his wife says,’ Look, he’s human, he has faults, he makes lots of mistakes,’” Esrick said. “Yeah, I see his humanness but I have to say, he’s <strong>the</strong> most selfless, guileless person I’ve ever known.” Asked whe<strong>the</strong>r his Day-Glo optimism and save-<strong>the</strong>-world energy ever flags, Wavy said no. He derives hope from seeing <strong>the</strong> best in o<strong>the</strong>rs, even during <strong>the</strong> darkest days of social unrest during his 74 years on e<strong>art</strong>h. “It’s much more satisfying to live that kind of life than <strong>the</strong> paranoid, don’t-trust-anybody corner that a lot of people have painted <strong>the</strong>mselves into. And I think, what kind of life is that?” His belief in “kitchen sinkchronicity” remains undimmed; his mission is to stay on <strong>the</strong> path to find <strong>the</strong> next “cosmic custard pie.” Esrick’s film is a <strong>for</strong>m of missionary work; it captures <strong>the</strong> Wavy’s life <strong>for</strong>ce and humanitarian brio—masquerading as his exuberant irreverence—and shares it with a new generation. Her quest has succeeded, she said, based on <strong>the</strong> number of people who approach her enthusiastically at screenings. After seeing what one balding, squinting, roly-poly man in a star-spangled clown suit, greasepaint and a red nose can accomplish, <strong>the</strong>ir own flagging self-esteem has been stoked. The director points to <strong>the</strong> reaction of a 15-year-old girl who had watched <strong>the</strong> film. In a letter to Esrick she explained, “My parents always show me films about saints and great people and I always feel like a loser after watching <strong>the</strong>m. But when I watched your film, I realized that even though my dream is to build schools in Africa, that even if I don’t get to do that, it’s okay if I just get up every day and help somebody. When I left your movie I wanted to run and go find an old lady and help her cross <strong>the</strong> street with her groceries.” The correspondence moved Esrick to tears, she said, “because everyone struggles with ‘Am I enough?’ And this little 15-year-old girl says, I know that I am enough, as long as I’m helping somebody each day.” With or without a clown nose. The Woodstock Film Festival presents Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie by Ripple Films on Saturday, December 11 at 4PM at Upstate Films at Tinker Street in Woodstock. A Q&A with Wavy Gravy and film director Michelle Esrick follows <strong>the</strong> screening. Tickets are $15 atUpstate Films 845.679.6608 or online at www.woodstockfilmfestival.com. More about Wavy Gravy and his charities: www.wavygravy.net | www.seva.org www.campwinnarainbow.org
11 | rollmagazine.com Hu g H ro m n e y, (wAv y gr Av y) p H o t o b y bA r r y Fei n S t ei n, 1962
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