"If I had to Live my Life Over Again, I would Be a Botanist": John Cage’s Mycology Collection

The Whole Collection and the Whole Earth

By the late 1960s Cage amassed a ton of realia. [1] He needed to simplify his living space and decided to donate a lot of his materials to universities. Afterall, Cage taught and performed in these establishments. He wrote, "without the universities I think my music would be very little known and I'm sure that's true too of Merce Cunningham's dancing.” [2] In 1971, Cage decided that his mycological collection would go to UC Santa Cruz and informed Norman O. Brown that he would personally bring the first shipment of his collection. This made Brown nervous. “Nobby” called Rita Bottoms, founding head of UCSC's Special Collections, “a million times” at home and at her work to make sure she was ready for this donation. [3] Cage visited the Santa Cruz campus that same year and had lunch with Brown, Bottoms, and Lee at the Whole Earth Restaurant to discuss details about his donation. [4]

The former Whole Earth Restaurant in Quarry Plaza at UC Santa Cruz.    

Cage set fairly unconventional guidelines as to how the collection would be stored and managed. He wanted his materials housed in Alan Chadwick’s chalet so the students could check out his books on a good faith principle and study the materials in the open air of one of the best mycological communities in the world. Dumbfounded by Cage’s decision, Brown asked Cage if he would include his copy of the exceptionally rare Valentina and Gordon Wasson book, Mushrooms Russia and History (1957). This book was signed and gifted to Cage for his fiftieth birthday by his friends including Brown and his wife. [5] Cage confidently replied, “Yes Nobby, even the Wasson. The revolution has to start somewhere. Let it begin with me!!!”

The UC Santa Cruz Alan Chadwick Garden Chalet that sits at the west entrance of the Gardens. 

An important letter between Rita Bottoms and Cage details the significant impression Chadwick had on Cage and his decision to donate the archive to UC Santa Cruz and reinforces the fact that he wanted the students to use the archive in a non-traditional environment so they could study where they worked–in nature:

As I told you, my decision to give the collection to the University of California at Santa Cruz was made because of my enthusiasm for the work of Mr. Alan Chadwick... I would like the books, as he would, to be in the chalet in the garden or in another chalet which he plans to make, which would take the form of a “quiet house” and which would include a collection of the writings of Rudolf Steiner and my mushroom books.
I am particularly happy about the combination of my collection with the Steiner collection because I did much of my purchasing of the books and Association with David Tudor who is himself devoted to the work of Steiner.
I wish to emphasize my desire that the books be placed in a botanical situation rather than a conventional library situation. I am delighted by the prospect of their being used by people working in the earth and a situation adjacent to their work. I do not want to have them obliged to stop work and go to another location in order to consult books. 
I realize that this request is unconventional from an academic point of view but I trust that it will be followed. On the other hand, I think the material should be cataloged in a conventional manner and the cards associated with the collection should be included and the University catalog. [6]

In an interview with Bottoms she mentioned the idea of keeping this important collection outside "in the dirt" and accessible to anyone at anytime was, “totally revolutionary.” This was indeed a unique concept as Special Collections departments are repositories that house rare books and documents that are irreplaceable.  

Rita Bottoms discusses the John Cage Mycology Collection and where Cage wanted his materials stored. Interview with Rita Bottoms October 11, 2020. 

After the meeting at the Whole Earth Cafe, Cage wrote a letter to Bottoms expressing his happiness with the donation of "mushroom books and mushroomiana" while disagreeing with the appraisal of the collection (refer to note 5) and items that were not evaluated such as the Morris Graves painting. As mentioned before, he reinforced his desire to have the collection stored in the garden chalet and wanted the "disposition of the books made by him [Chadwick]." 

A letter to Rita Bottoms from John Cage regarding their meeting at the Whole Earth Cafe dated December 8, 1971. Administrative Files. Special Collections Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Chadwick was fired from UC Santa Cruz in early 1972, an act which seems politically motivated and remains a sore topic at the university. [7] Bottoms had custodial rights of the collection and amidst the confusion, Cage's collection was stored in the library.  This is exactly where Cage did not want his materials placed. In fact he wrote a letter to Bottom's and carbon copied the Chancellor of University on December 26, 1972. He mentioned that he was in contact with Chadwick and suggested that the books from his collection should be with Chadwick if the university was willing to allow this. 


A letter to Rita Bottoms from John Cage about the use of his collection dated December 26, 1972. Administrative Files. Special Collections Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Cage was upset that his wishes were not realized and that the materials he donated were only available, "six hours a day five days a week." The Special Collections department improved access to Cage's collection and his books are easily accessible. In a personal letter to Bottoms dated January 17, 1973, Cage apologized for his previous communication:
I wanted you to know that I love you all and didn't want to make you miserable with my last letter. But yesterday a good letter from David Arora about the changes in the availability of the books made me happy. Will shortly send you a box of materials and also the recently finished portfolio of lithographs.

Cordially,

John Cage

An apologetic letter to Rita Bottoms from John Cage dated January 27, 1973. Administrative Files. Special Collections Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.


The name David Arora appears a couple times in these letters. Arora was a student at UC Santa Cruz in the early 1970s and is now one of the world's leading mycologists. It seems that he was the individual who alerted Cage about the limited access to these materials and made suggestions to improve on the restrictive environment. In the 1972 letter to Bottoms, Cage wrote:

Mr. Arora has excellent ideas about the proper disposition of these books. I recommend that his ideas be followed. I wish to hear that the collection is free of ordinary library rules and regulations, and that it is open to twenty–four hour use by mushroom hunters, whether in the fields or in a shelter.  

In his 1973 apologetic note to Bottoms, Cage wrote that Arora had sent a follow-up message indicating that the library improved access to the collection which made Cage happy. Arora, the student and budding mycologist, influenced how the materials were used. In fact, in 1988 Arora reflected in a statement to Bottoms about the collection and the importance it played in his undergraduate and beyond.
A statement from the mycologist David Arora about the collection dated February 1988. Administrative Files. Special Collections Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

His words point out that the collection is not only for musicians but should be used by anyone interested in the environment and mushrooms. Another idea that emerges is the use of the collection. 

Not a few of the books bear proof in the form of subtle smudges or stains which only a mushroom hunter would recognize as the inky spores of a Coprinus or the slime from a Suillus. Booklovers may shudder at this vision, but such stains are not signs of disrespect, misuse, or abuse. Rather, they are the unavoidable consequences of loving use, badges certifying that they were, indeed, used often, as surely as the wrinkles on my face testify that I have smiled often.

Although the collection did not end up in the Alan Chadwick garden chalet like Cage originally envisioned, these materials have and continue to be used. 

The study and practice of mycology was central to Cage's artistic output and creative endeavors– a topic that joins his interest in Norman O. Brown, Buckminster Fuller, Marshall McLuhan, D.T. Suzuki, Henry David Thoreau, and Zen Buddhism among others. But it was nature and these terrestrial specimens that regularly occupied the composer’s thoughts. Cage sought refuge and found inspiration in nature and in mushrooms. This is an important motivation as to why he donated his mycology collection to UC, Santa Cruz. In the 1960s, Santa Cruz represented a place of transformation and renewal. It was a new university full of novel ideas whether it be in education, organic farming, or foraging. 

This project provides insight on Cage's mycology collection although the topic remains relatively unexplored. In the conclusion, I consider scholarship during the COVID–19 pandemic and discuss how I developed this digital exhibit in a remote environment.

References:

Bottoms, Rita. Riffs and Ecstasies: True Stories. Venice, Italy: Damocle Edizioni.

Bottoms, Rita, and Irene Reti. “Rita Bottoms: John Cage.” In Rita Bottoms: Polyartist Librarian, 64–172. Santa Cruz, CA: The University of California, 2005.

Lee, Paul. There Is a Garden in the Mind: A Memoir of Alan Chadwick and the Organic Movement in California. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2013.

Sharon Cadwallader, Judi Ohr, Paul Lee, and Anita Walker, Whole Earth Cookbook: Access to Natural Cooking (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.

Silverman, Kenneth. Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage. New York: Knopf, 2010.

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