|
Ivan Stang
Ivan Stang (born Douglass St. Clair Smith; August 21, 1953) is an American writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius. He is credited with founding the Church with friend Philo Drummond in 1979, though Stang himself denied this and claimed the organization was founded in 1953 by J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, he attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. Since the publication of the first SubGenius pamphlet in 1980, Stang has embarked on a worldwide crusade (spanning at least three continents) to promote the Church. In May 2006 he finished writing, editing and designing a new SubGenius book for Thunder's Mouth Press, ''The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon.'' He has appeared on several national radio and television shows, including ''The Jon Stewart Show'' on MTV. Stang is an instructor on the faculty of the Maybe Logic Academy. Both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church Of The SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGenius leaders have developed detailed narratives about Dobbs and his relationship to various gods and conspiracies. Their central deity, Jehovah 1, is accompanied by other gods drawn from ancient myth and popular fiction. SubGenius literature describes a grand conspiracy that seeks to brainwash the world and oppress Dobbs's followers. In its narratives, the Church presents a blend of cultural references in an elaborate remix of the sources. Ivan Stang, who co-founded the Church in the 1970s, serves as its leader and publicist. He has imitated actions of other religious leaders, using the tactic of culture jamming in an attempt to parody better-known faiths. Church leaders instruct their followers to avoid mainstream commercialism and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ''Billboard'' chart hit in 1980 with the single " Whip It", the song that gave the band mainstream popularity. Devo's music and visual presentation (including stage shows and costumes) mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor and mordantly satirical social commentary. The band's namesake, the tongue-in-cheek social theory of "de-evolution", was an integral concept in their early work, which was marked by experimental and dissonant art punk that merged rock music with electronics. Their output in the 1980s embraced synth-pop and a more mainstream, less conceptual style, though the band's satirical and quirky humor remained intact. Their music has proven influential on subsequent movements, particularly on new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Chick
Jack Thomas Chick (April 13, 1924 – October 23, 2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morality plays. Many of his tracts accused Roman Catholics, Freemasons, Muslims, and many other groups of murder and conspiracies. His comics have been described by Robert Ito, in ''Los Angeles'' magazine, as "equal parts hate literature and fire-and-brimstone sermonizing". Chick's views have been spread mostly through the tracts and, more recently, online. His company, Chick Publications, says it has sold over 750 million tracts, comics tracts and comic books, videos, books, and posters designed to promote Evangelical Protestantism from a Christian fundamentalist perspective. They have been translated into more than 100 languages. Chick was an Independent Baptist who followed a premillennial dispensationalist view of the End Times. He wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anodea Judith
Anodea Judith (born Judith Ann Mull, December 1, 1952, Elyria, OhioGuiley, Rosemary Ellen, (1999) ''The Encyclopedia Of Witches and Witchcraft''. Facts on File; 2nd edition p.180) is an American author, therapist, and public speaker on the chakra system, bodymind (body/mind integration), somatic therapy, and yoga. Judith is the author of ''Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System''. She has maintained a private practice for over twenty years and presents workshops nationally and internationally at holistic retreat centers, yoga studios, Neo-Pagan and New Age events and training institutes. She is a past president of the Church of All Worlds (1986–1993), a founder of ''Lifeways'', a school for the study of the healing and magical arts (1983), and a founding member of Forever Forests. She is on the faculty of Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and she is the founder and director of Sacred Centers, a teaching organization focusing on Chakra studies. She has a son named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews. Wilson described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". His goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything." In addition to writing several science-fiction novels, Wilson also wrote non-fiction books on extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs and what Wilson called " quantum psychology". Following a career in journalism and as an editor, notably for ''Playboy'', Wilso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy ''Illuminatus!'' It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In 1986 it won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. Shea went on to write several action novels based in exotic historical settings. Other works Shea wrote several historical action novels, including '' Shike'' (1981), a two-volume novel set in Ancient Japan about the warrior monk Jebu and his love Lady Shima Taniko, ''All Things Are Lights'' (1986), and ''The Saracen'', a novel published in two volumes in 1989 depicting the struggle between a blond Muslim warrior called Daoud ibn Abdullah and his French crusader adversary, Simon de Gobignon. His last published book was the Native American tale ''Shaman'' (1991). ''All Things Are Lights'' and the outl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Rosenbaum
The Association for Consciousness Exploration LLC (ACE) is an American organization based in Northeastern Ohio which produces events, books, and recorded media in the fields of "magic, mind-sciences, alternative lifestyles, comparative religion/spirituality, entertainment, holistic healing, and related subjects." History The organization was founded in 1983 by members of the Chameleon Club (founded in 1978), and their fictional founder, C. C. Rosencomet, on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Its primary directors are Jeff Rosenbaum and Joseph Rothenberg, and many of the founding members still make up much of the core organizing group. As a campus organization they offered concerts by local musicians, offered a film series, and hosted appearances by Jim Alan and Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, Dr. Raymond Buckland, and the first Cleveland appearance of Timothy Leary (at Amasa Stone Chapel). In the 1980s, they also ran a "mind spa", providing han ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Monaghan
Patricia Monaghan (February 15, 1946, – November 11, 2012) was a poet, a writer, a spiritual activist, and an influential figure in the contemporary women's spirituality movement. Monaghan wrote over 20 books on a range of topics including Goddess spirituality, earth spirituality, Celtic mythology, the landscape of Ireland, and techniques of meditation. In 1979, she published the first encyclopedia of female divinities, a book which has remained steadily in print since then and was republished in 2009 in a two volume set as ''The Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines''. She was a mentor to many scholars and writers including biologist Cristina Eisenberg, poet Annie Finch, theologian Charlene Spretnak, and anthropologist Dawn Work-MaKinne, and was the founding member of the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, which brought together artists, scholars, and researchers of women-centered mythology and Goddess spirituality for the first time in a national academic or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunder's Mouth Press
Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Year in 2007 by ''Publishers Weekly'' magazine for its role in taking on publishers formerly distributed by Publishers Group West and acquiring Avalon Publishing Group. After the death of Frank Pearl, Perseus was sold to Centre Lane Partners in 2015, a private equity firm. In April 2016, its name and publishing business was acquired by Hachette Book Group and its distribution business by Ingram Content Group. In January 2007, the Perseus Books Group purchased Avalon Publishing Group, the parent company of Carroll & Graf and Thunder's Mouth Press; the purchaser folded both imprints and stopped publishing books under those names in May 2007. In December 2018, Hachette Books became an imprint of Perseus Books Group. Concurrently, Da Capo Pres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avalon Publishing Group
Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Year in 2007 by ''Publishers Weekly'' magazine for its role in taking on publishers formerly distributed by Publishers Group West and acquiring Avalon Publishing Group. After the death of Frank Pearl, Perseus was sold to Centre Lane Partners in 2015, a private equity firm. In April 2016, its name and publishing business was acquired by Hachette Book Group and its distribution business by Ingram Content Group. In January 2007, the Perseus Books Group purchased Avalon Publishing Group, the parent company of Carroll & Graf and Thunder's Mouth Press; the purchaser folded both imprints and stopped publishing books under those names in May 2007. In December 2018, Hachette Books became an imprint of Perseus Books Group. Concurrently, Da Capo Pres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Weirdness By Mail
''High Weirdness By Mail – A Directory of the Fringe: Crackpots, Kooks & True Visionaries'', by Ivan Stang () is a 1988 book dedicated to an examination of "weird culture" by actually putting the reader in touch with it by mail. The book is divided into sections—"Weird Science," "UFO Contactees," "Drug Stuff," and others, and each section contains a variety of mini-articles describing organizations. Each organization article concludes with a mailing address (and in some cases, phone numbers), with many entries referencing publications and (in some case) merchandise that at the time of the book's publication could be requested free of charge or for the cost of postage. Several years after the book's publication, Stang reported on the newsgroup alt.slack that his inclusion of entries for white supremacist groups in the book caused his name to be mentioned by those groups as a possible target for retaliation. (The book's commentaries on various hate groups were less than fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fireside Books
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints. History Early years In 1924, Richard Simon's aunt, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, asked whether there was a book of ''New York World'' crossword puzzles, which were very popular at the time. After discovering that none had been published, Simon and Max Schuster decided to launch a company to exploit the opportunity.Frederick Lewis Allen, ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'', p. 165. . At the time, Simon was a piano salesman and Schuster was editor of an automotive trade magazine. They pooled , equivalent to $ today, to start a company that published crossword puzzles. The new publishing house used "fad" publishing to publish bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
