McClure holds an Ed.D. in reading and is a freelance writer, assistant professor of education, and owner of an educational resources and consulting firm. In this essay, she considers the influence of Leary's basic existentialist nature on his views of life and death.

"Turn on. Tune in. Drop out." Perhaps Timothy Leary's most famous six words, the phrases bring forth vivid images of the 1960s: free-flowing hallucinogenic drugs; rowdy anti-establishment activists; and glaze-eyed, stoned-out hippies. According to Christopher Graves (webmaster for the Timothy Leary homepage), however, it was the media that twisted Leary's words to mean that everyone should get high and do nothing constructive. Leary's true intent was more existentialist in nature. That is, Leary wanted people to choose to be physically, mentally, and emotionally present in the world; to be full participants in their lives; and to take charge of their own destinies. To...