Seattle Mystic Alfred M. Hubbard

The biography of an intriguing man who came to Seattle as an inventor and went on to become a bootlegger, a spy, and a proponent of LSD.

Seattle has a long tradition of being at the forefront of technological innovation. In 1919, a mysterious young inventor named Alfred M. Hubbard made his first newspaper appearance with the announcement of a perpetual motion machine that harnessed energy from Earth’s atmosphere. From there, Hubbard transformed himself into a charlatan, bootlegger, radio pioneer, top-secret spy, millionaire and uranium entrepreneur. In the early 1950s, after discovering the transformative effects of a little-known hallucinogenic compound, Hubbard would go on to become the “Johnny Appleseed of LSD,” paving the way for the very first generation of psychedelic disciples and beyond. Join author and historian Brad Holden as he chronicles the life of one of the most fascinating figures to emerge from Seattle’s past.

“A captivating history of one of America’s most colorful characters—Al Hubbard. Holden dives into the larger-than-life history of a man whose past intersects with rum running, spy rings, police informants, and psychedelics. Brilliantly told, Holden brings Hubbard’s enigmatic character to life.” —Erika Dyck PhD, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus

“An engaging biography about the mysterious Al Hubbard, who helped pioneer psychedelic therapy and is credited by Stan Grof with developing the model of the high dose inner-directed session to catalyze a mystical experience.” —Rick Doblin, PhD, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)