A marijuana dealer that had once shared a house with LSD manufacturer Owsley Stanley, Perry started proofreading for the magazine, he was then struggling financially, for free in 1968. This quickly turned into a paid job as copy editor. He would eventually rise to associate editor, but did not follow the staff when the magazine moved its offices from San Francisco to New York in the mid '70s. In 1975, Perry began researching his history of the Haight-Ashbury '60s psychedelic scene, published (first by Rolling Stone Press) in 1984 as The Haight-Ashbury: A History. Although this was only partially devoted to rock music, the interaction between culture and music was extremely important to '60s San Francisco rock, and as such this thorough and entertaining book is worth reading by both rock fans and general readers. After leaving Rolling Stone, Perry became a restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. ~ Richie Unterberger