A Young Man’s Tumultuous Journey Through the Late 60s and early 70s...
Author: John Beilharz
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 294
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Format: Paperback, Kindle, FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Tender Dreams, Harsh Reality make up the memoirs in John Beilharz’s lifelong dream to share his most cherished life experiences with friends and loved ones, and perhaps with a broader audience.
In this collection, readers travel through a collection of short stories about John’s coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s amid a rapidly changing world. From his idyllic childhood in Hollywood, California, to his adventures in unknown territories, John’s stories capture the essence of his rites to manhood.
Readers discover John’s life challenges as they delve deeper into his world. However, amidst the chaos of drugs, music, prison, wilderness, and Vietnam, his guardian angels seem to appear during his most significant times of need, offering guidance and support when he needed it most.
Read sample.
Tender Dreams, Harsh Reality is available at Amazon at https://a.co/d/fSnC3fN .
Excerpt:
Living in Hollywood in the late 1960s was quite an adventure, one that I am glad I experienced and survived. Hollywood High, the Sheiks, allowed me to complete high school but also introduced me to up-and-coming movie stars, musicians, drugs, and a great group of friends.
I saw top bands start their careers at the Troubadour and the Whiskey a Go Go, experienced love-ins, played sports, and surfed some of the best breaks ever. I also visited my good friend, Greg, in San Francisco several times. I remember, or barely remember, taking midnight flights for twelve dollars. The hour-long flight was filled with hippies who smoked pot and were getting ready to party in SF. We would arrive at the gate, the doors would open, and smoke would pour out into the lobby.
And of course, there were the Vietnam protests.
The draft was still hanging over my head, and the idea of going to Vietnam was out of the question. I was active in Vietnam War protests in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. After a few hours of marching, holding signs, and listening to speakers, the demonstrations would often turn into what they called a love-in. These events consisted of smoking weed, taking drugs, playing music, dancing, blowing bubbles, smelling patchouli oil, and, yes, free sex. I'm still trying to figure out what that meant; it seems like an oxymoron.
Hollywood in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a unique time and place to grow up in.
My good friend, Tom, worked at a gas station in Hollywood. He loved the night shift because it allowed him to read, pump gas, and work on cars without anyone bothering him. Sometimes, after my shift at Dee’s Broasted Chicken, I brought food and hung out with him while we played chess and worked around the station.
One night, when I was at the station with him and his co-worker, Skylar, an RV with a flat tire pulled up. An attractive, light-skinned young Mexican man stepped out.
"Looks like you need your tire fixed," Tom remarked.
“Can we fix your tire for you?” Skylar asked. He was an eighteen-year-old kid from Nogales, Arizona.
“We can have it patched up in no time and get you back on your way,” Tom assured him.
At that point, two other Mexican guys, Eddie, and Tony, piled out of the RV, offering Tom and me a joint. We all went inside the RV and smoked some Acapulco Gold, a strain of marijuana that Tom and I had never tried before. It took the rest of the night to fix their tire and stop laughing.
***
Tom and I became quick friends with the boys from Nogales. We introduced Skylar, Eddie, and Tony to our other friends, and they proved to be the funniest and coolest guys you would ever want to meet. They were all bilingual, often using Spanish phrases that were mostly Mexican street slang. We all started copying them like parrots, and they immediately meshed with our group.
The hombres stayed in L.A. for about a month, and we grew very close to them. We took them to Disneyland, the beach, and musical events, often parking Skylar's RV on the strip near or in front of the Whiskey-a-Go-Go. We would play music, get high, and invite young women in for drinks. One time, Jim Morrison walked by and peeked inside the open door. We invited him in for a smoke, but he had to return to the club.
Skylar was undoubtedly the leader of the group and was super intelligent, good-looking with his wild, dark eyes, and very outgoing. He was also a high school track star and very popular with the girls. His family had money, and he spoke proper Spanish, not street Spanish like Tony and Eddie. A bit like Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver, my parents and little sister loved him. Every bit the golden boy in front of them, no one in my family had any idea he was always planning something illegal.
After about a month in Hollywood, Skylar and the boys had to return to Nogales. They kept urging me and my friends to come down and hang out, so before school started, I decided to go down for a while. I took the train and the bus to Tucson, where Skylar picked me up in his brand-new VW camper.
Skylar's father, General Octavio Hildago, had been a former pilot in the Mexican Airforce, owned two planes, and had his own airstrip on the ranch. He flew cargo to different parts of Mexico, and we helped him load air conditioners, TVs, stereo systems, and other items onto the plane in the morning. Skylar's mother, of Hawaiian descent, was a stunning woman who cared for the house and children and managed the general's business finances. Skylar had two sisters and a grandfather who also lived on the ranch. They all lived comfortably with new cars and beautiful artwork adorning their walls.
I enjoyed staying at Skylar's parents’ stunning ranch in Patagonia in the guest quarters, and I loved the high desert climate.
Skylar, Eddie, Tony, and their other friends had a fun life down there, and I enjoyed being with them. We went to bars across the border, went to the local high desert lakes to swim and dive off the rocks, camped in the Grand Canyon and—an all-time favorite—hanging out at the border and watching people get busted with drugs in their cars or trucks. It was somewhat twisted but an entertaining way to spend evenings.
– Excerpted from Tender Deams, Harsh Reality by John Beilharz, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
Interview with John Beilharz
Do you have a routine or something you do to get you in the mood to write?
I don’t follow a strict routine, I write when inspiration shows up. It usually hits when pieces of the story start piling up in my head and won’t leave me alone. I’ll open my laptop, put on some quiet music, and let it all spill out. Once I start, the words tend to find their own rhythm.
Do you have a special song, drink, or food you enjoy while you are writing?
I like to keep things simple. I usually play jazz softly in the background as an ambient sound, and I’m almost always sipping on tea. It helps set a calm mood and keeps me focused while I write.
How do you know what to write?
I usually start with an outline to give myself structure and direction. From there, knowing what to write comes naturally through a continuum of thoughts, one idea leading into the next. The outline keeps me grounded, but I allow my thoughts to flow and shape the story as I go.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
A typical writing day starts with me settling into my cozy home office, overlooking the valley. I’ll sit and write for four to five hours at a time, usually in one continuous stretch. I take small breaks to refill my tea, pet the cats, or walk around a bit, but I prefer to keep the momentum going rather than breaking the work up throughout the day.
Do you do anything special to celebrate after writing “the end”?
Writing “the end” doesn’t really feel like the end to me. That’s when I start rereading the story, revising, and editing, sometimes several times over. The real ending comes when I finally send it off to the publisher. At that point, I take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and hope all the editing and care I poured into it did its job.
How long does it take you to write a book?
It really depends on the story. My first book, Tender Dreams, Harsh Reality, took about six months to write. The book I’m just finishing now, Belief Trap, a work of fiction, has taken closer to a year. Each project has its own pace, and I try to honor the time each story needs to fully take shape.
What is the most difficult part of writing a book?
The most difficult part for me is the insidious nature of editing. It’s slow, meticulous, and often more demanding than the writing itself. Shaping the story, refining the language, and knowing when to stop tweaking can be far more challenging than getting the words onto the page in the first place.
As a Ph.D. in psychology, John Beilharz has had an illustrious career in various fields. From practicing as a therapist to teaching at a junior college, he eventually founded his successful marketing and advertising firm. Yet, despite his success in these endeavors, John has always been drawn to the art of storytelling.
Through his memoirs, John shares his life experiences in a poignant and captivating way. This collection of short stories is a testament to the power of the human spirit and the enduring resilience of the human soul.
You can visit his website at https://jbadvertising.com or follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/John-Beilharz-Author/61573799214000/.
