I love non-traditional life trajectories. Perhaps because I live one. And apparently, so does Heather Donahue, best known for 1999 horror film “The Blair Witch Project.” While the movie turned out to be a massive hit, it didn’t do much for Donahue’s acting career. She moved north of Hollywood, met a man named Judah at a meditation retreat (of course she did – oh California!) and tried her hand at growing marijuana.
An excerpt from Chicago Tribune interview:
A: “I went to a meditation retreat after burning all of my acting-related stuff in the desert, and I met this guy there who lived in this town that I had been to several years prior. He sat down next to me, invited me to a hot spring, invited me to his house in this town. And I said, ‘What do you do for work?’ Because that was really the hold-up for me moving there. I had no idea what people did for work. And he grew pot and I said, ‘Well, let’s check it out.’”
Q: Are you concerned that what you’ve written could be used by police to go after people you knew when growing pot?
A: “Everybody in the book is disguised. I think it would be quite hard to figure out who the people around me were. And I had at some point to make a decision. Do I want to participate in the conversation about this issue?
“Because I think prohibition does way more damage than the cannabis plant does, and I think it’s time that we look at that sensibly and with a little bit of humor. And I felt like I had a moral decision that I had to make. And yeah, I have to live with that and yes that gives me some sleepless nights.”
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished artist with over 15 years of experience, as well as the president of Hot Buttered Media. She currently resides at the Jersey shore where she can be found surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.
Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com