This summer I’m going to give a class in mushroom identification at the New School for Social Research. Actually, it’s five field trips, not really a class at all. However, when I proposed it to Dean Clara Mayer, though she was delighted with the idea, she said, ‘I’ll have to let you know later whether or not we’ll give it.’ So she spoke to the president who couldn’t see why there should be a class in mushrooms at the New School. Next she spoke to Professor MacIvor who lives in Piermont. She said, ‘What do you think about our having a mushroom class at the New School?’ He said, ‘Fine idea. Nothing more than mushroom identification develops the powers of observation. [2]

I had been on a mushroom hunt with him [Cage], that's what it was, with George Brecht, who was a neighbor of mine at that time in New Jersey - and I asked John at that time about the problems I was having with the sounds… so I asked him what to do. And he said, "Why don't you come to the class next week." So I drove in for the class… At the end of the class I was so fascinated with what was going on I asked him if I could attend it regularly, and he said, "Sure." And that's where I actually did the first proto-happenings with the participation of the rest of the class members. Everyone was given homework every week and came in with a piece. And that's where I began doing that sort of work. [3]

The connections Cage established proved to be fruitful. In late 1961, he revived the defunct New York Mycological Society with Lois Long, Esther Dam, Guy Nearing, and Ralph Ferrara. Below are two early flyers from the organization. The first advertisment shows the Society's interest in environmental activism. It reads, "Litter Day" which is handcrafted in bold letters and promotes their adoption and dedicated cleaning day of the Stony Brook trail. The other poster advertises talks related to the environment which were most likely organized by Cage.  

Early advertising from the New York Mycological Society. The John Cage Mycology Collection. MS 74. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Box-folder 1:1–2. Biographical material 1951–2003.

He became enthusiastically involved in the new Society and he invited prominent intellectuals such as the marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson (who politely declined because of her busy schedule) and the Thoreau scholar and director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences W. Stephen Thomas (president of the Thoreau Society from 1976–77) to give lectures.

Letter to John Cage from Rachel Carson politely declining his request to speak to the New York Mycological Society. The John Cage Mycology Collection. MS 74. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Box-folder 1:1–2. Biographical material 1951–2003. 
    

Letter to John Cage from W. Stephen Thomas accepting Cage’s invitation to speak to the New York Mycological Society. The John Cage Mycology Collection. MS 74. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Box-folder 1:1–2. Biographical material 1951–2003.

Cage had his fiftieth birthday on September 5, 1962. To celebrate this landmark event, he received the first  edition of Gordon and Valentina Wasson's two-volume book, Mushrooms Russian and History. This text is a soaring achievement in mycological literature. It covers mushrooms in history, folk customs, folklore, diet, and their use in various European countries (Cage may have liked certain sections in this study which highlight poisonous mushrooms and their use throughout various cultures). As Cage became regularly known for his foraging expeditions and fondness for mushrooms, it is no surprise that his friends bought him this pricey and influential book.

The Two-Volume Gordon and Valentina Wasson Book, Mushrooms, Russia, and History with signatures from his close friends including some of the co-founders of the New York Mycological Society. The John Cage Mycology Collection. QK 617 W35. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz

In 1964, Cage received an award from the North American Mycological Society. The award is given annually to acknowledge an exceptional amateur mycologist who has contributed outstanding work for the advancement of amateur mycology. Further and by 1966, Cage was similarly given the title “Honorary” member in his co-founded organization. 

John Cage’s “Honorary” membership card to the New York Mycological Society. The John Cage Mycology Collection. MS 74. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.  Box-folder 1:1 Membership cards 1963–1990.

The reinstitution of the New York Mycological Society shaped the composer's thoughts on music. To a certain degree, the formation of the Society was an early example of Cage linking his experiences in nature to his music. Rob Haskins observed that Cage, "used his mushroom hunting with the New York Mycological Society as a metaphor for the new kind of approach to listening that he had in mind." [4] Cage preferred to travel to and from sites in new ways to observe different aspects of nature. He mentioned in his M Writings '67–'72 that:  

Guy Nearing told us it's a good idea when hunting mushrooms to have a pleasant goal, a waterfall for instance, and, having reached it, to return another way. When, however, we're obliged to go and come back by the same path, returning we notice mushrooms we hadn't noticed going out. [5]

Cage’s narrative highlights his philosophy of the omnipresence and ever-changing music found in nature once one decides to pay attention to it. To a certain degree, the idea of variation permeates through his scores: Cage created multiple routes which a performer could take while playing his music, allowing musicians a degree of choice in their interpretation. Therefore, a lot of his music can be understood as a meditation on his experiences in nature. 

The front cover of Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming featuring Cage. [6]

Upon his death in 1992, Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming featured Cage on the cover of its magazine and in homage wrote, “A world-class mushroomer who also found time for music in poetry.” Cage held an important place in the mycological community which this first section explored. 

Although the University of California Santa Cruz Library’s Special Collections & Archives houses many incredible documents that shed light on this topic, there is more to be considered. In my future research, I plan to elaborate on Cage's collection as a source for his life as a mycophile and an innovative musician. The second section of this digital exhibit, A History of the Collection, questions how and why Cage donated some of his most important materials to UC Santa Cruz.  

References:

Cage, John. “Mushroom Book.” In M: Writings ‘62––’72, 117–185. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1974.

Cage, John, and David Tudor. Indeterminacy 3: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music. Washington, DC: Smithsonian/Folkways, SF40804/5, 1959.

Haskins, Rob. John Cage. London: Reaktion Books, 2012.

Held, Jr. John. “Television Interview at the Dallas Public Library Cable Access Studio.” April 12, 1988. 

Kuhn, Laura. “John Cage at the New School (1950–1960).” John Cage Trust: Official Blog of the John Cage Trust. August 6, 2014. 

Lee Kennedy, Christopher. “Mycological Provisions: Introduction.” 

Lincoff, Gary. “John Cage Leaves Behind Poetry, Prose, New Music and Even Some Mushrooms.” In Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming (Winter 1992–93): 5–8.

Trinder, Kingston. “Where the Whippoorwill Sound and Morel Lay.” In John Cage: A Mycological Foray. Ananda Pellerin ed., 13–78. Los Angeles: Atelier Éditions, 2020. 

The wonderfully crafted artbook John Cage: A Mycological Foray contains the first commercially available facsimile of the seminal Mushroom Book (1972) by John Cage, Lois Long, and Alexander H. Smith. To hear more about this collaboration between the Cage Trust and the authors, although I strongly disagree with the idea that UCSC got the “junk mail” of Cage’s material see, PERSPECTIVES - John Cage: A Mycological Foray. To know more about what is in the John Cage Mycology Collection at UC Santa Cruz you can reference the collection guide and the list of books he donated to the University Library.

Atelier Éditions found a course advertisement in the New York School for Social Research Press Release Collection which reads in part as follows: “Mr Cage, who regularly teaches music composition at The New School, is an amateur mycologist. Mr Nearing is a botanist. Dean Mayer said the course has 'the double advantage of taking city dwellers to the woods in the most beautiful season of the year and of cultivating their powers of observation in a way rarely afforded in urban centers. Scientists from other fields have often embraced mycology as a hobby; They have been much interested in some of the more intricate problems that arise in the effort to identify some species of mushrooms.'” (32).

Wasson, Gordon and Valentina. Mushrooms Russia and History. New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.