Emily Dickinson was a poet born in Amherst, Massachusettes on December 10,1830. There was a strong Dickinson presence in New England with her grandfather being the founder of Amherst college and her father a successful attorney, legislature, treasurer, and also a community leader (Bloom 11). She went to college for 7 years, but never finished and returned home without ever finishing her studies (Bloom 11). After the age of 30, Emily secluded herself, selmdom seeing anyone but herimmediate family (Loving). After 1974, she never left her house, and only wore white (Matanic). She died on May 16, 1886. Timothy Leary was a philosopher, psychylogist, author and scientist born on October 22,1920 ("The Timothy Leary Biography." www.leary.com). He worked at Harvard in the center of research in personality, and he was introduced to psychedelics in the 1960's (Time). Leary saw potential for this new therapeutic chemical brain-changer, and set out to explore its effects on the human nervous system ("The Timothy Leary Biography" www.leary.com). Soon LSD made headlines as a dangerous new drug, and Leary's experiments were shut down. He then continued with private funding in New York ("The Timothy Leary Biography" www.leary.com). Leary died on May 31, 1996. If Timothy Leary had been alive during Emily Dickinson's time to guide and support her, perhaps she could have avoided a lonely, unsuccessful life.
             Timothy Leary would have been a role model for Emily Dickinson. He was an outgoing public speaker ("The Timothy Leary Biography" www.leary.com). She was known as "the unsocialable soul" (Vendler 34). If Leary were alive during Dickinson's time, he would have influenced her to be more outgoing and take risks. One of Emily's themes in her writing was that our most important moments are over just as soon as they begin (Loving). Maybe her "important moments" would have lasted longer if she pursued them. He also might have taught her t...