A Hippie's Tale By Faith Leith Bio Coming of age in the Midwest in the 1960s was challenging. By the end of the 1970s I had moved to the West Coast and was transformed into living a hippie lifestyle without knowing it. My road led to a degree from UCLA in political science, a job in the House Rules Committee in D.C., a weekend at Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden's ranch, and many more outside-the-box experiences. In the process I re-evaluated every aspect of my belief system. I had no idea what a hippie mindset was all about or what beliefs and values were attached to that lifestyle. But all of that changed from 1965 to 1980.