Robert M. Ockene (1934 – December 2, 1969) was a book editor, anti-war activist, co-founder of the

Youth International Party The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded o ...

(the Yippies), and a founder of Veterans and Reservists to End the War in Vietnam. He was an editor at Grossman Publishers where he edited and produced the book that brought

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

to national attention, ''

Unsafe at Any Speed ''Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile'' is a non-fiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, first published in 1965. Its central theme is that car manufacturers resisted the introduction of safety features ( ...

''. Later he became an executive editor at

Bobbs-Merrill Company The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. After his death in ...

. He attended the

March on the Pentagon The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the Lincoln Memorial. Later about 50,000 people marched across the city to The Penta ...

in October 1967. There he conceived the idea that the counter-cultural hippies of the anti-war movement needed leadership distinct from the political new left leaders of the movement. He met with

Jerry Rubin Jerry Clyde Rubin (July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994) was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman. He is known for being one of the ...

, Abbie Hoffman, and

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American author, journalist, and comedian. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key ...

during November and December 1967 to develop the idea into what became the Youth International Party, or Yippies. Also in 1967, Ockene helped organize Supports-in-Action, a group which grew into the prominent Vietnam-era

draft resistance Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft ev ...

organization,

Resist A resist, used in many areas of manufacturing and art, is something that is added to parts of an object to create a pattern by protecting these parts from being affected by a subsequent stage in the process. Often the resist is then removed. For ...

. He was also a noted war tax protester, and was a signatory of the

Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of ...

. Ockene died of leukemia on December 2, 1969.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ockene, Robert M. American literary editors American anti-war activists Yippies American anti–Vietnam War activists American tax resisters