New book about Jerry Rubin (of the yippies)
Aug 28, 2017 20:52:53 GMT -8
Brian, anni, and 1 more like this
Post by Oss Rae on Aug 28, 2017 20:52:53 GMT -8
Tonight I was at the monthly Activist Support circle in Santa Monica. This month's guest was Pat Thomas, author of a new book (officially coming out this Sept. 5), Did It! From YIPPIE to YUPPIE: Jerry Rubin, an American Revolutionary. The book is the product of five years of research, including 75 interviews. It was an amazing and edifying discussion. Besides the author and all of his information, several people in the audience had seen/interacted with Rubin and/or Abbie Hoffman.
Here are some points I was struck by:
When All in the Family was in its first season, Rubin contacted Norman Lear and offered to appear on the show as an activist. Lear responded, though obviously Rubin was never asked to appear.
When John Lennon and Yoko One came to the U.S. they got involved with Rubin in the campaign to encourage 18-year-olds to vote in the '72 election. This entailed free concerts. (They tried to get Bob Dylan to participate, but even though his lyrics could be political, he didn't get involved in political issues.) When McGovern''s campaign failed, Lennon was said to have really chewed out Rubin. And that's when Rubin disappeared from public view for a few years. I returned to the Bay Area (he's attended UC Berkley in his pre-yippie years) and turned to new age and health.
He's been demonized for getting involved with Wall Street as a broker, but what's not widely known about him is he was selling solar panels as far back as '80/'81
Also, he never was a full-fledged broker. Because of his reputation as a clown and prankster, people didn't feel safe having him around too much. What if he one day sabotaged the office computers? He had trouble finding work everywhere.
Thus, later in life he endeavored to sell his own health drink, Wow.
After he was killed while jaywalking in Westwood circa the early '90s, the autopsy revealed his quite a bit of cancer. His silence about it has fueled speculation. People who knew him say he would've talked about it a lot. But perhaps he realized the problem of marketing health products when he himself had cancer.
Thomas will next be appearing at Book Soup, also on the West Side. Info: www.booksoup.com/event/pat-thomas-discusses-and-signs-did-it-yippie-yuppie-jerry-rubin-american-revolutionary
Here are some points I was struck by:
When All in the Family was in its first season, Rubin contacted Norman Lear and offered to appear on the show as an activist. Lear responded, though obviously Rubin was never asked to appear.
When John Lennon and Yoko One came to the U.S. they got involved with Rubin in the campaign to encourage 18-year-olds to vote in the '72 election. This entailed free concerts. (They tried to get Bob Dylan to participate, but even though his lyrics could be political, he didn't get involved in political issues.) When McGovern''s campaign failed, Lennon was said to have really chewed out Rubin. And that's when Rubin disappeared from public view for a few years. I returned to the Bay Area (he's attended UC Berkley in his pre-yippie years) and turned to new age and health.
He's been demonized for getting involved with Wall Street as a broker, but what's not widely known about him is he was selling solar panels as far back as '80/'81
Also, he never was a full-fledged broker. Because of his reputation as a clown and prankster, people didn't feel safe having him around too much. What if he one day sabotaged the office computers? He had trouble finding work everywhere.
Thus, later in life he endeavored to sell his own health drink, Wow.
After he was killed while jaywalking in Westwood circa the early '90s, the autopsy revealed his quite a bit of cancer. His silence about it has fueled speculation. People who knew him say he would've talked about it a lot. But perhaps he realized the problem of marketing health products when he himself had cancer.
Thomas will next be appearing at Book Soup, also on the West Side. Info: www.booksoup.com/event/pat-thomas-discusses-and-signs-did-it-yippie-yuppie-jerry-rubin-american-revolutionary
