The Untold Story of Christine Bott- New Edition 24/02/2024 After Julie: The Kemp Tapes. 2023

These are self-published books telling the story of Christine Bott and Richard Kemp’s wish to change the world.

The Untold Story of Christine Bott - New edition: 2024

Catherine Hayes promised Christine Bott to help get her story ‘out there’ and up to the last few months of her life, they planned to make a feature film. Having been gifted her memoirs, Catherine felt the pressing need over the subsequent years to fulfil Christine’s dying wish.

This 2024 book contains new material. The first edition included Christine’s account of the years she spent involved in what she called ‘the caper’, up to the point of her arrest. Now in 2024, as a result of the success of the BBC Podcast Acid Dream, family members contacted Catherine Hayes. Although Catherine was aware Christine had wanted to share her prison experiences, she had no knowledge that Chris had written it all down.

Clearly, before she died, Chris did not have the time or the energy to transfer her typed material to a word processor, however, on receiving the papers, it became clear Christine had written them in order to be shared.

Throughout the autumn and winter of 2023, Catherine turned her attention to the harrowing story documented by Christine. The writing throws light on the bullying prison system. At the mercy of fellow prisoners and unscrupulous guards, the loss of freedom was not the only form of punishment.

Moved by some of her inmate’s back story, Christine offers powerful cameos alongside her own struggles, challenges and insights. She shares her thinking around the significance of the psychology she chose to study, the Person-Centred approach, and also the importance of developing a spiritual practice. Her writing holds significance for the twenty first century.

In 2024 Catherine was interviewed by two popular podcast broadcasters – The Bureau of Lost Culture and The Drug Science podcast.

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After Julie The Kemp Tapes : 2023

This book draws on letters, newspaper reports, interviews as well as Catherine’s own knowledge and experience of Christine’s life.

It includes exclusive material from Richard Kemp, the main chemist responsible for manufacturing millions of L.S.D. tablets between 1968 and 1977.

Richard wished to support getting Christine’s story known and allowed Catherine to record interviews they had at his home in Spain in May 2022. Breaking a 45-year silence, Richard shares previously unknown aspects of what it was like to be involved in manufacturing LSD in the 1970’s. The transcripts are unique and represent the only in depth recorded conversation with Richard Kemp since he disappeared from the public eye after his trial in 1978.

The book charts the end of Christine’s life ‘ abruptly cut short as a result of the cancer she had been living with for a number of years. The author, Catherine, reflects on the legacy of the era.

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The Story

The 1960’s was as a decade of social change, where the younger generation (now grandparents and elders) saw the environmental catastrophe we are experiencing now, witnessed the inequalities and injustices between people, and the devastation caused by senseless wars. It was also a time of personal development, where people in the West started to reject the traditional Christian establishment and started experimenting with other practices such as Yoga, meditation and psychological inner development.

One other crucial element to this ‘paradigm shift’ was the use of LSD. In its purest form and with the support of a ‘guide’ LSD was seen to help people move from a state of self-loathing to one of love and engagement with others and crucially Planet Earth. This connection ensured that individuals started to make life changing choices that nurtured and cared for others and the planet. These are not easy idealistic choices; they are hard and require discipline and determination.

For some the message was so important, that they felt the slow trickle of awareness raising would not mean the urgency of the message would be heard. This resulted in a handful of academics making the decision they needed to put in to action in order to help this enlightenment by the manufacturing and distribution of LSD.

  • Christine Bott

    About Christine

    Catherine’s friend, Christine, was at the heart of this ‘conspiracy to flood the world with LSD’ throughout the 60’s and 70’s.

    Many heard of her through the story told by the police and has been well documented as ‘Operation Julie’.

    This is the first time Christine’s voice has been heard. The judge at the trail clearly saw Christine as a traitor to the establishment, and one barrister stated later, ‘he did not like an unrepentant woman’. Imprisoned in the 70’s Christine disappeared into obscurity.

  • Me & Christine

    Christine and Catherine

    Catherine met Christine because of studying to be person-centred psychotherapists at the University of East Anglia in 1995. Their stories were strangely intertwined, and a lifelong friendship was formed. Sadly, neither knew her life would be cut so short.

    Christine’s interest in the person-centred approach was a continuation and a recognition of the need for a paradigm shift and recognised the revolutionary nature of the discovery by Carl Rogers of how society could fundamentally change. This shared vision united them and formed the basis of a profound friendship and is described in both The Untold Story of Christine Bott (2024) and After Jule :The Kemp Tapes (2023)

Reviews

  • After Julie: The Kemp Tapes

    I just wanted to send a message of sincerest gratitude and thanks, to you, unreservedly, for your incredible dedication and work, in bringing Christine and Richard, and essentially your own incredible story to the world, in your beautiful books. I couldn’t quite believe it when I recently found out about the books, after hearing the podcast series, which had me in tears by the end. I’ve exhaustively studied anything and everything associated with the experience and the culture since that first trip, and yet the truth of Christine and Richard has always remained locked in stone until now. The serendipity of how you, Kate, came to be the the teller of this tale is, well, just mind-blowing. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.

    ~ Ronnie ~

  • After Julie: The Kemp Tapes

    “Your two books are immense, the second book I have just lavished over, taking time to digest and mediate on, has been a hugely uplifting experience. The kindness you show, the empathy you have for Christine and then later Richard, is pure friendship and grace.”

    ~ Stuart ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “With thanks and appreciation of the record of your friend and your friendship, well done.”

    ~ Rod Read ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “What a great read and what a life Christine had. I was sad to get to the end and sad at the injustice she suffered. What a great pity her dream of turning the world on didn’t come to fruition and what a great pity her life was cut short by cancer. My wife has just started reading it this morning, I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through yesterday.”

    ~ Jed McGahern ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “Christine Bott’s voice is distinctive and engaging. This book is a vital addition to the literature of a significant cultural event in our recent history. Kate Hayes is to be congratulated for making available such a compelling and important piece of work.”

    ~ Jim Green – Author of Giving Up Without Giving Up: Meditation and Depressions (Bloomsbury, 2019) ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “Christine is a clear, no-nonsense writer and doesn’t hold back from expressing various fears and concerns that haunted her throughout her life. She is also very lucky to have had a friend such as Kate who has had the determination to make Christine’s story available to us all.”

    ~ Andy Roberts – author: Albion Dreaming: A popular history of LSD in Britain (Marshall Cavendish Limited 2008) ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “What a great read and what a life Christine had. I was sad to get to the end and sad at the injustice she suffered. What a great pity her dream of turning the world on didn’t come to fruition and what a great pity her life was cut short by cancer. My wife has just started reading it this morning, I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through yesterday.”

    ~ Rod Read ~

  • The Untold Story of Christine Bott

    “Christine Bott’s voice is distinctive and engaging. This book is a vital addition to the literature of a significant cultural event in our recent history. Kate Hayes is to be congratulated for making available such a compelling and important piece of work.”

    ~ Jim Green ~

Want to buy a copy?

Printed by the environmentally friendly company Anglia Print, the books are beautifully produced. The price of each book includes first class post and packaging and can be bought through eBay if you are in the UK.

The Untold Story of Christine Bott

Untold Story of Christine Bott After Julie: The Kemp Tapes