W. M. Raebeck books

Well I'll try again. Best dancer in the Hamptons ( or at least Mitty's ).. I guessed your name and we hitchhiked back to the Shinnecock Motel at around 4 am. You were sexually repressed at that time. I hope you got over it eventually. I guess you did because years later I saw you on Columbus Avenue with a very young good looking blond guy and you seemed pretty cozy.. Maybe it was your brother. Due to traffic and social circumstances at the time I was not able to call to you. Just as well I suppose I was leaving for Park City Utah where I spent a lot of time being not a hippie but an excellent ski bum and purveyor of potions.

5/6/20 - Hi Johnnie, Interesting note.....thanks for getting in touch. (Probably wasn't my brother if we seemed cozy.) I just got your message now while making a new web page (way after you wrote it). Just want to say thanks for remembering me—and the wild times we all had. Hope your life is still going great, and feel free to sign onto my list and, when you do, remind me of this message. : ) wmr

Hi Wendy, the amazon fires are bringing jungle memories. Just thinking about the experience and wondering how you are. And wondering if you have any contact with Tony Suarez? Been doing a little search for him. Hope all is well with you and your family 💫✨🌿

5/6/20 - Great reconnecting, Deb. I'll FB you next time I'm in LA and we'll get coffee!!

Hi Wendy Just read your book while staying in Kauai. Bought it in a little shop specializing in selling local artisan goods. It was hard leaving Kuwaiti, but it’s hard leaving here too. If you could give me one piece of advise how to get me back to Kauai, where we belong, what would it be?
M

5/6/20 - Hi Mariann, so sorry for delayed response—my old website never gave me these messages! Thanks for reading my book! Do sign up for my email list (you get a free story, too). Re coming back to Kaua'i, I guess you meant living here? Without knowing your circumstances, I'd say don't move here if you have close loved ones on the Mainland—aging parents, kids, grandkids.... You'll miss them too much and end up going back. I'd say, if you also love where you already live, just come for longer stays, like a month or two months. That way you won't have the pangs of having to tear yourself away after just a week or two. Do a house swap from Craigslist, or sublet from a local who's going off island for a month or two. That's my best shot! - wmr

Hey Wendy!
I knew you almost 50 years ago. We lived together for a short time in Albuquerque; the owner was a Gurdieff follower.
You and I worked briefly in a topless joint at the edge of town! You were gonna be a nurse
I had hitchhiked to Albuquerque too
I recently read some old letters you wrote
You were so much fun! And have had an eventful life since then! So glad to have known you
Judith (Graefe) Rousseau

5/6/20 - JUDITH !!! I just rec'd this message, sorry abt the delay! Please sign onto my email list so we can reconnect. It's GREAT to hear from you, brings a smile to my face. I'll try to find you, meanwhile, based on your name... You'll be amazed, but you're in TWO chapters of "I Did Inhale—Memoir of a Hippie Chick," my book about wild times back when. (You're given a fictional name.) And we should clarify here that WE were not topless (!) but just the (miserable) waitresses. You'll laugh over the story recounted in detail. Even now, I crack up rereading it. Hope so much we can reconnect! <3 wmr

Hi Wendy,
I just finished reading "I Did Inhale" which I purchased at the Coconut Marketplace in Kauai. I thoroughly enjoyed your book which I didn't want to end! I too grew up in the 60's (San Francisco Bay Area) and can identify with many things you've written about. You're my free-spirit hero because you acted on your dreams...while I only fantasized about mine!

5/6/20 - Thank you so much, Bob, Kindred Spirit, for letting me know you enjoyed the book! (Sorry for delayed response—my previous website didn't give me these messages.) Please sign up for my email list here on my new website so we can stay connected. (Plus you get a free story from "Stars in Our Eyes.") I know you'll enjoy my other books, too—the adventures continue! And no doubt you followed the Contra War in Nicaragua in the mid '80's, meaning you'd resonate with "Nicaragua Story," my next book from journalist days down there. I'm still working on the final manuscript; hope to launch this book by end 2020. Thanks again for chiming in, Bob, much appreciated! - wmr

Hey. I just can’t help but send this now. I was going to wait until I finished reading I Did Inhale. But I just can’t. I’m 22 and I recently went on a crazy and unprepared last minute trip to Kauai (ya know, the best kind of trips) and spent 10 days there and had the most healing and intense trip. But I was in a restaurant south of Kapaa and in their little store front window I saw this book. On the inside someone had written ‘much aloha and safe travels’ I couldn’t read the hand writing of the person who read it but I had left my new book on the plane and thought this would be perfect. The owner ended up giving it to me for free and it’s been one of the craziest experiences reading this book. It turns out that was your handwriting on the cover. And I just have had the strongest emotions reading the book. I just finished chapter nine but had to a top because I was crying too hard. I met a “Jonah” when I was 19 and he acted the same exact way Yours did. As you described his physical I just pictured my Caleb. We had the same conversations. He’d ask me to come visit him in Spain and then in Israel. I always said I would and I never did. He begged me to move to Macedonia with him and it’s one of my biggest regrets but one of my biggest blessings. We tried to work it out a year ago but turned out I wasn’t the only one. They’re married now but he’ll never leave my heart. Anyways as I read these words and your story I just feel your emotions. You don’t mention them much but I feel them and I just couldn’t help to reach out to you. I dont have any intentions or expectations and no end game in mind here but I just wanted to say that I feel so connected to your story and I’m only so little into it. I’ve been working on a piece of my own and been working on it for years. And I can’t wait to finish it and get it out into the world. Thank you.

5/6/20 - Laura, your message means so much to me. (Sorry I'm just responding now, but I didn't get this when you wrote it.) I so appreciate your letting me know you've had similar love drama.... It's all so powerful. And, no, I didn't get into the emotional struggles in the book because I wanted the dialogue and actions to say it. And what reader can't relate to, or at least sympathize with, being 'dropped off' by someone in a foreign country when you expected lasting love? If you see this note on my new website, please sign up for my email list now to stay in touch (and remind me of this note so I know it's you). Thanks again for sharing feelings, and great luck with your own writing! - wmr -P.S., You also get a free story from "Stars in Our Eyes" when they sign onto my list. : )

Holy shit! So, I was going through a couple of boxes of photos, papers and other memorabilia, and found a couple of drawings/birthday greetings you made for me. I also found The Profile from World Campus Afloat and there you were in the student listings. I still love the drawings you made and would love to meet up sometime. I am living in the Sierra foothills, a half hour from Sacramento. Have lived overseas for most of my life. Long story. Any chance we could organize something (if you are interested) sometime in the future?

5/6/20 - Donna, it was SO GREAT reconnecting with you. We were wonderful shipboard friends so long ago! I'll call you again soon! <3 wmr

Hello, I read about your book on the Babelcube website, and I'm interested in translating your book into Portuguese, how can I have complete access?

Wendy, you may or may not remember me from our childhood summers in Amagansett. Oddly, today I was listening to a "summer mix" station on Amazon Music; and the song "Wendy" came on. It brought me right back to Atlantic Avenue, the beach and lifeguard shack, your big red house, your family...those amazing days before the Hamptons were THE Hamotons and we were all just kids. Thoe memories set me on an internet search to discover what had become of you - and here you are! I'm sorry to hear of your Dad passing. I can still see him clearly in my mind. Not sure which sister you lost; but I hope the journey to healing has begun. Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and wish you well. Sue Dunne (Cannon)

5/6/20 - So, so great being back in touch with you, Sue! Maybe we'll actually meet again in the Finger Lakes later this year!

WILL THIS GET ME A AUTOGRAPHED BOOK ?

5/6/20 - Don't you already have them all, Wild Bill ? Haven't seen you on Kaua'i in a while, where ya been? (Sorry for delayed response here, hope you see this.) Hugs, wmr