In Ringolevio, Grogan discussed the 1967 Human Be-In, criticizing counterculture luminaries Timothy Leary,[6] Jerry Rubin, and especially Abbie Hoffman.
They became the Western world's taste makers overnight..." He objected to the "Summer of Love" enticing of young people to the Haight-Ashbury to experience hippie life, noting that an influx of residents would cause an "immigration crisis" and the kids who came expecting an already-formed Utopia would end up living a desperate hand-to-mouth existence on the streets.
[9] Close friend and Digger co-founder Peter Coyote stated in his foreword to Grogan's autobiography Ringolevio that his death was due to a heroin overdose.
[Ringolevio] is a hard-boiled, sometimes hard-to-believe, wildly entertaining tale that takes a totally unexpected turn when Grogan washes up in sixties San Francisco and becomes a leader of the anarchist group known as the Diggers.
The Diggers, devoted to street theater, direct action, and distributing free food, were in the thick of the legendary Summer of Love, and soon Grogan is struggling with the naive narcissism of the hippies, the marketing of revolution as a brand, dogmatic radicals, and false prophets like tripster Timothy Leary.