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MICA F» R E S VOICES FROM THE UNDERGROUND: —VOLUME 1 INSIDER HISTORIES OF THE VIETNAM ERA UNDERGROUND PRESS Edited by Ken Wachsberger with Forewords by William M. Kunstler and Abe Peck ^ \1 MAIN ALTERNATIVE CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Wachsberger, Ken, 1949- editor. Voices from the underground. Tempe, AZ: Mica's Press / $ 2 volumes. PARTIAL CONTENTS: volume 1: Insider histories of the Vietnam era underground press; with forewords by William M. Kunstler and Abe Peck, -volume 2: A directory of sources and resources on the Vietnam era underground press;- with foreword by Sanford Berman. \ % 1. Alternative press—History and criticism. 2. Alternative press editors—Personal narratives. 3. Counterculture—Personal narratives. 4. Counterculture—Periodicals- History and criticism. 5. Alternative press—Bibliography. 6. Libraries—Special collections—Alternative press—Directories. 7. Acquisition of alternative press publications. 8. The Sixties—Personal narratives. 9. Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Protest movements—Personal narratives. 10. The Sixties—Periodicals—History and criticism. 11. Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Protest movements—Periodicals—History and criticism. I. Mica's Press. II. Title: Underground voices. III. Title: Insider histories of the Vietnam s f era underground press. IV. Title: The Vietnam era underground press. V. Title: A directory of sources and resources on the Vietnam era underground press. VI. Kunstler, William M., 1919- Foreword. VII. Peck, Abe, 1945- Foreword. VIII. Berman, Sanford, 1933- Foreword. IX. Title. 070.4509 or 301.2309 92-082780 %•. X ISBN: 187946101-3 (Volume 1) 187946102-1 (Volume 2) 187946103-X (Collection) Both volumes are 8 1/2" x 11", softbound, Smyth sewn, with alkaline paper. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards Institute for information sciences—permanence of paper for printed library materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. oo A • j $• copyright ©January 29, 1993 by Ken Wachsberger All rights reserved. All articles and illustrations copyrighted by individual contributors. X Cover by Merilea. \ Manufactured in the United States of America. Mica's Press Box 25544—Library Lane J1 */l •it* -*»» , -rf^. —.. aasM-fl^aatJM z& TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME l Voices from the Underground: Insider Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press Collective Dedication , vi Publisher's Notes xiv by Joseph W. Grant Foreword xvi by William M. Kunstler Foreword xvii by Abe Peck Editor's Introduction xxi by Ken Wachsberger At This End of the Oregon Trail: The Eugene AUGUR, 1969-1974 1 by Peter Jensen An alien force had taken over our country; it talked peace and made vicious war; it owned both political parties.-We were all that was left of the opposition. Above all, the media had caved in and was reporting inflated, daily body counts for generals in Saigon and Washington. The press was just another chain of corporations acting like a line of skimpily dressed cheerleaders for the boys in grunt green. In such a setting, writes Peter Jensen, the Eugene AUGUR began publication in 1969. hi Fast Times in the Motor City—The First Ten Years of the Fifth Estate, 1965-1975 9 by Bob Hippler Harvey Ovshinsky wasn't happy when his mother moved to Los Angeles in 1965 and dragged along the popular senior from Detroit's Mumford High School. Wandering around town in a funk, Ovshinsky happened upon the Sunset Strip. There he saw two sights that piqued his interest: a gathering place called the Fifth h Estate Coffeehouse and Art Kunkin's Los Angeles Free Press. Ovshinsky began hanging out at the coffeehouse and working on the Free Press. He was captivated by its antiwar politics, its concern for developing a radical Los Angeles community, and its coverage of the local music scene. Before the year was over, he returned to Detroit and founded FifthEstate. Twenty-five years later, writes alumnus Bob Hippler, the snake oil of Reaganism is seen to have bankrupted the country, most workers do not have a union, countries still suffer under the yoke of neo­ colonialism, and Fifth Estate is the nation's longest-lived underground paper to emerge from the Vietnam era. Looking for Utopia 37 by Patrick Halley In August of 1973, Guru Maharaj Ji, the 15-year old "perfect master, arrived in Detroitto inaugurate his "Divine Light Mission"—a religious cult started in India—and to receive the key to the city. The local press t hailed him as a messenger of peace and brotherhood. His disciples hailed him as the new "God." Only Detroit's Fifth Estate concluded that he was a hustler and a fraud. In this appendix to Bob Hippler's history of the Fifth Estate, Patrick Halley tells, for the first time, how he infiltrated the "Divine Light Mission" and pied the perfect master from 15 feet, and about the steel plate he wears in his head as a reminder. \ viii VOICES FROM THE UNDERGROUND — TABLE OF CONTENTS — ii-i: •t=—-tfj ^ A Fowl in the Vortices of Consciousness: The Birth of the Great Speckled Bird 41 by Sally Gabb In 1968, a collective of young type humans in Atlanta, Georgia, spit out a response to the then-present insanity because they believed in possibility. It was naturally a collection of graduate students. Who else had been so groomed to take*themselves so seriously? Budding historians and philosophers they were, mostly men, with women in the shadows, women on the brink of bursting forth to be heard. They were men and women joined by a certain lesson: the South. In this article, Sally Gabb recalls the history of Atlanta's Great Speckled Bird. The Joy of Liberation News Service 51 X by Harvey Wasserman. With a sidebar by Allen Young Founded in youthful genius, LNS moved this country as few other rag-tag operations ever did. It was the AP and UPI of the underground, supplying the counterculture with a wide variety of articles and essays, proofs and spoofs that were read and loved by emerging millions. Then came-the split, and co-founder Marshall Bloom's suicide in 1969. Even today, the extent of FBI-penetration and involvement is unknown, but Freedom of Information records show it was significant. In this article, LNS alumnus Harvey Wasserman tells his story. Allen Young's profile of Marshall Bloom is reprinted from Fag Rag. Muckraking Gadflies Buzz Reality 63 by Chip Berlet How does an Eagle Scout and church youth group leader end up hawking underground newspapers with nudes and natural food recipes? In the 1960s, the transition seemed, well, organic. In this article, long-time muckraker Chip Berlet recalls his introduction to the underground press and his resulting journey down the road to ruin as a member of College Press Service, The Denver Clarion, Flamingo Park Gazette, and other papers of the day. He concludes by explaining why he is still an optimist. In sidebars, he presents overview histories of a few other, short-lived underground press services and keeps his promise of utter anonymity to his sources so* he can share experiences that they would never share openly because they have kids and respectable jobs now. Messaging the Blackman 81 X by John Woodford In 1968, H. Rap Brown was in jail in Louisiana on trumped-up charges and the Black Panther Party was striding around northern California declaring.it the right and duty of African-Americans to defend themselves with arms against brutal police. Against that backdrop, journalist John Woodford, Harvard class of 1963, moved from Ebony magazine, the country's biggest, magazine aimed at African-American readers, to Muhammad Speaks, the newspaper of the Black Muslims, in order to play a more active role in events of the period. In this article, he provides an intimate account of his experience at both newspapers. The Guardian Goes to War 99 by Jack A. Smith Within that assortment of several hundred alternative publications that together helped to build domestic opposition to the Vietnam War, none matched the influence exercised by the Guardian. During the decade from 1965 to 1975, the Guardian metamorphosed from "progressive" to "radical"to "Marxist-Leninist. "Throughout that period, writes former editor Jack Smith, it retained its political and organizational independence, did not deviate from its stress upon "uniting all who could be united" against the war, attacked "right opportunism" and "left dogmatism" within the movement, and published timely and superior articles, commentary, and polemics for its national audience of 75,000 readers. Founded in 1948 to generally reflect the views of supporters of Henry Wallace's short-lived Progressive Party, it is still today one'of the most important independent alternative publications in the United States. In a sidebar, Smith defines some of the key terms used in his article. — TABLE OF CONTENTS — VOICES FROM THE UNDERGROUND ix LYNDON LAROUCHE DEBUNKED In this context, it is appropriate to mention the role played by unpaid volunteers in ensuring the Fifth The beginning of 1973 saw an upswing of political Estate's survival over the years. One such volunteer, activity from the nadir of 1972. The Detroit black the late Pete Kwant, donated his labor and his pickup community, fed up with police abuse, mobilized to elect truck to installing the first20 newsracks across the city. veteran progressive politician Coleman Young as the The day he took out the first ten newsracks, as he city's first black mayor. (Among his other accomplish­ rounded the first corner, two newsracks fairly leaped ments, Young had appeared as a "hostile witness" off the truck and crashed to the unforgiving pavement. before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee Kwant and the staffers with him picked them up, (HUAC) in the 1950s, telling off the McCarthyites. banged them back into shape, and all ten newsracks HUAC was not abolished until the early 1970s.) went into operation that day.

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