Francais | English | Espanõl

Paul Krassner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Paul Krassner (born April 9, 1932) was founder, editor and frequent contributor to the Freethought magazine The Realist, which, first published in 1958, is a very early example of the countercultural press in the United States. Although The Realist is regarded as an underground publication by some, it was a nationally distributed newsstand publication as early as 1959.

Contents

[edit] Achievements

The Realist was published on a fairly regular schedule during the 1960s and then on an irregular schedule after the early 1970s. It was revived as a much smaller newsletter during the mid-1980s when material from the magazine was collected in The Best of the Realist: The 60's Most Outrageously Irreverent Magazine (Running Press, 1985). The final issue of The Realist was #146 (Spring, 2001).

Krassner was a child violin prodigy (and was the youngest person ever to play Carnegie Hall, in 1939 at age six),<ref>"An IMC Interview with Paul Krassner" by Brian A. Pace, 06.May.2004 14:05</ref> but his career took a different turn in the 1950s when he became an important figure in many aspects of politically-edged humor and satire in the US. He was a close protege of the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce (he edited Bruce's autobiography); he worked on early issues of Mad; he was a founder of the Youth International Party (yippies) in 1967, and a member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, famous for prankster activism. He was featured at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Wavy Gravy during their "I Want to Take You Higher" exhibit. He is known in intellectual property circles for having printed The Realist's controversial 1966 poster, "The Disneyland Memorial Orgy", illustrated by Wally Wood in black-and-white line art. Krassner recently made Wood's poster available in a digital color version.

The Realist distributed a red, white, and blue parody Cold War bumper sticker that read "FUCK COMMUNISM". Perhaps Krassner's most notorious satire was an article following the Kennedy assassination that depicted LBJ sexually assaulting JFK's corpse.

Krassner remains a prolific writer and stand-up comedian. He has been a frequent speaker at both the Starwood Festival and the WinterStar Symposium.<ref>Association for Consciousness Exploration. Paul Krassner</ref><ref>Association for Consciousness Exploration. WinterStar Symposium 1998</ref> Currently, he is a columnist for the New York Press, Disinfotainment Today, AVN Online, and High Times Magazine. In 2005 he received a Grammy nomination for Best Album Notes. He is a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books

  • 1971 - How a Satirical Editor Became a Yippie Conspirator in Ten Easy Years (Putnam)
  • 1981 - Tales of Tongue Fu (And/Or Press)
  • 1985 - The Best of the Realist: The 60's Most Outrageously Irreverent Magazine (Running Press) ISBN 0-89471-289-6
  • 1994 - Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counter-Culture (Touchstone) ISBN 0-671-89843-4
  • 1997 - The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race: The Satirical Writings of Paul Krassner Introduction by Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-888363-44-4
  • 1999 - High Times Presents Paul Krassner's Pot Stories for the Soul compiled by Krassner with a forward by Ellison, Harlan (High Times) ISBN 1-893010-02-3
  • 1999 - Paul Krassner's Impolite Interviews (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-888363-92-4
  • 2000 - Sex, Drugs, and the Twinkie Murders (Loompanics Unlimited) ISBN 1-55950-206-1
  • 2002 - Murder at the Conspiracy Convention: And Other American Absurdities introduced by George Carlin (Barricade Books, Inc.) ISBN 1-56980-231-9
  • 2001 - Paul Krassner's Psychedelic Trips for the Mind (High Times Press) ISBN 1-893010-07-4
  • 2004 - Magic Mushrooms and Other Highs: From Toad Slime to Ecstasy (Ten Speed Press) ISBN 1-58008-581-4
  • 2005 - One Hand Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Satirist, Foreword by Harry Shearer, Introduction by Lewis Black (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-58322-696-6

[edit] Articles

[edit] Discography

  • Campaign In the Ass (2000)
  • Irony Lives (2002)
  • Sex, Drugs and the Antichrist: Paul Krassner at MIT (1999)
  • Zen Bastard Rides Again (2004)

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Paul_Krassner"
Personal tools