Brian Sydney Barritt (1934–2011) was an English author, artist, and counterculture figure. He served in the British army, and was a friend and collaborator to such notables as Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, and

Alex Trocchi Alexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi ( ; 30 July 1925 – 15 April 1984) was a Scottish novelist. Early life and career Trocchi was born in Glasgow to Alfred (formerly Alfredo) Trocchi, a music-hall performer of Italian parentage, and Annie ...

. He was particularly active in the

Beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...

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, and

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

scenes.

Books

Barritt was the author of several books, including ''Whisper'', ''The Road of Excess: A Psychedelic Autobiography'' and ''The Nabob of Bombasta''. He also collaborated with Timothy Leary on his book, ''Confessions of a Hope Fiend''.

Relationship to Timothy Leary

Barritt first made contact with Leary when Leary was on the run after his escape from prison. Barritt wrote to Leary in Algeria, asking him to write a foreword to the then unpublished, ''Whisper''. Leary had seen parts of the book before which had been handed to him whilst he was a prisoner at San Luis Obispo, USA. By the time Leary received his letter, Barritt was already in Algiers waiting to see him. Their relationship deteriorated by the early 1980s with Leary describing Barritt as a 'lying junky' in his 1983 autobiography, '' Flashbacks''.

Collaborations with musicians

Barritt collaborated with Martin Glover from

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

on his novel, ''The Nabob of Bombasta''. He was later introduced to the rave scene by The Orb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barritt, Brian 1934 births 2011 deaths Counterculture