The Making of Mr. Woodstock

THE TUMULTUOUS LIFE OF A DESERTER, DRIFTER, AND DREAMER

What makes a man’s life unravel?
Why does he repeatedly disrupt his close relationships and burn bridges?
And how does he still make an indelible mark on the world?

Ed Reynolds, the older brother of Mr. Woodstock (Robert Depew, aka Bob Reynolds), documents what is known about Bob’s life to look for answers to those questions.

Bob had abundant artistic talent, was well-read, and loved to write. He influenced his friends, traveled and worked in Europe, and impacted institutions from the U.S. Marines to the community of Woodstock, NY. Bob was a devotee of Jack Kerouac, the Beat and Hippie generations, and communes. He claimed that James Michener dubbed him a “Drifter” during his life in Spain.

But none of that knitted Bob’s life together. This story chronicles a life inspired by free love, booze, and drug use from childhood to the 1980s—Bob’s demons and downfall.

Robert Depew Reynolds adopted Joe Hill’s motto: “Don’t mourn, organize.” But, for all the good work he did—organizing and hosting many events in the town of Woodstock, with an emphasis on poetry and art—his non-conformist style could make him a “pain-in-the-ass,” according to his Woodstock contemporaries. This book gets to the heart of how this particular pain-in-the-ass could end up with the title, “Mr. Woodstock.”