Steven Conliff (November 24, 1949 – June 1, 2006) was a Midwestern-based Native American writer, historian, social satirist, alternative-media publisher and political activist in the 1960s and 1970s. Conliff is chiefly remembered for throwing a banana cream pie at James A. Rhodes, the governor of Ohio, in 1977, at the opening of the

Ohio State Fair The Ohio State Fair is one of the largest state fairs in the United States, held in Columbus, Ohio during late July through early August. As estimated in a 2011 economic impact study conducted by Saperstein & Associates; the State Fair contribute ...

in Columbus, Ohio.

Biography

Steve Conliff attended

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

of Ohio, where he worked extensively with the

National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in o ...

, known as "the mobe." It was during his time with the mobe that he began to question the effectiveness of 'politics as usual' and at about the same time, met up with 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 ...

(Yippies). It was as a newly-converted Yippie that Conliff moved to

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, Ohio, in 1970, briefly attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. Most of his activities revolved around politics and political organizing; he was a gifted and tireless organizer. One of his first experiences passing out anti-war leaflets at a local campus burger-joint got him arrested for

vagrancy Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

; he immediately challenged the constitutionality of the

vagrancy laws Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

as discriminatory against youth and poor people. In the summer of 1970, Steve Conliff started his first Yippie publication, ''Purple Berries''—which later morphed into the publication ''Sour Grapes''.SOUR GRAPES cover

, Columbus, OH, 1974 Conliff was also one of the founders of the ''

Columbus Free Press The ''Columbus Free Press'' is an American alternative journal published in Columbus, Ohio since 1970. Founded as an underground newspaper centered on anti-war and student activist issues, after the winding down of the Vietnam War it successfully ...

'' (to which he contributed up until his passing) and the public-education-critical ''Subversive Scholastic'' (1978–84).
SUBVERSIVE SCHOLASTIC cover : May/June 1980
/ref> He regularly wrote for ''YIPster Times'' (1972–78), ''HVPTA / Bite Magazine'' (1978-80), and ''Overthrow'' (1979–98). In addition, Conliff's work also appeared in ''

High Times ''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States, legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by ...

'', ''

News From Indian Country ''News From Indian Country'' is a privately owned newspaper, published once a month in the United States, founded by the journalist Paul DeMain (Ojibwe/Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Oneida) in 1986, who is the managing editor and an owner. It is th ...

'', ''Akwesasne Notes'', ''Open Road'', ''Take Over'', '' Fifth Estate'', ''

In These Times ''In These Times'' is an American politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago, Illinois. It was established as a broadsheet-format fortnightly newspaper in 1976 by James Weinstein, a lifelong socialist. ...

'' and ''The Mohican News''—among numerous other zines and underground newspapers, frequently writing under the pseudonym "Leon Yipsky." He helped launch countless other publications, and published the local magazine ''Columbus Entertainment'' (which focused on cultural diversity before it was fashionable) from 1986 to 1988. (Note: ''no relation'' to the present owners of the magazine of the same name). A tribal descendant, Conliff presented papers detailing

Mohican The Mohican ( or , alternate spelling: Mahican) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, who ...

Indian history on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation (2001) at the

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol ...

in Albany (2004). He also contributed American Indian ethnography to ''Notable Native Americans'' (Gale 1995) and ''Volume 1 of the Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes'' (Gale 1998). Steve Conliff was an important leader of the

Yippies 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 on D ...

' second wave, which included well-known activists such as

Tom Forcade Thomas King Forçade (September 11, 1945 – November 17, 1978), also known as Gary Goodson, was an American underground journalist and cannabis rights activist in the 1970s. For many years he ran the Underground Press Syndicate (later called the ...

Ben Masel Bennett A. “Ben” Masel (October 17, 1954 – April 30, 2011) was an American writer, publisher, cannabis rights and free speech activist, expert witness for marijuana defendants, and frequent candidate for public office. A skilled chess playe ...

A.J. Weberman Alan Jules Weberman (born May 26, 1945) is an American writer, political activist, gadfly, and inventor of the terms "garbology" and "Dylanology". He is best known for his controversial opinions on, and personal interactions with, the musician ...

, Aron Kay (another famous pie thrower), David Peel, and

Dana Beal Irvin Dana Beal (born January 9, 1947 in Ravenna, Ohio) is an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana and to promote the benefits of Ibogaine as an addiction treatment. He is a founder and long-ter ...

. He was also the transatlantic coordinator of the

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

USA campaign of 1979, helping to organize concerts in

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and New York City. Like Neal Cassady and similar charismatic personalities of the counterculture, it is hard to quantify the nearly-metaphysical impact Steve Conliff had on activists around him; besides storytelling and history-keeping, his great gifts were to inspire, encourage and engage.

The Pie and the Gubernatorial Campaign

Steve Conliff's decision to throw a pie at Governor Rhodes was due to Rhodes' direct role in the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...

; particularly 1) the ordering of Ohio

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

troops onto campus, and 2) his angry speech given the day before the shootings (May 3, 1970) to assembled news media. Rhodes' infamous speech was said to inflame conservatives as well as the guardsmen occupying campus, thereby lighting the fuse of an already-incendiary situation:

We have seen here at the City of
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
especially, probably the most vicious form of campus-oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups and their allies in the State of Ohio ... these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize a community. They're worse than the
Brown Shirts The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ralli ...
and the communist element and also
the Night Riders The Night Riders was the name given by the press to the militant, terrorist faction of tobacco farmers during a popular resistance to the monopolistic practices of the American Tobacco Company of James B. Duke. On September 24, 1904, the tobacco p ...
and the vigilantes. They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. And I want to say that they're not going to take over the campus. And the campus now is going to be part of the County and the State of Ohio.

In 1977, the

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

Administration decided to build a gymnasium on the exact site of the

, where there was already a small but respectful memorial to the four slain students erected by

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

. This provoked a series of protests: there were numerous demonstrations and an infamous "

Tent City A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable ten ...

" erected on the site that eventually had to be bulldozed down, its 193 inhabitants forcibly removed and arrested. It was in this carnival atmosphere that the pieing of Governor James Rhodes took place. After pieing Rhodes and the generally-positive reaction, Conliff decided to run for governor against Rhodes, as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. This campaign was not treated very seriously by Ohio media, but gave Conliff access to various conservative venues in which he delivered anti-war, anti-capitalist and pro-marijuana speeches to decidedly-unfriendly audiences with aplomb, which he seemed to enjoy:

Yippie Conliff says he's too young to serve as governor even if elected, but sees no problem with the state not having a governor.

When his Lieutenant Governor candidate, yippie Leatrice Urbanowicz, was thrown off the GOP ballot for being a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, that was also an occasion for more Yippie hoopla.

Zorba the Freak

One of Conliff's continuing characters throughout his work was an alter ego, "the Leader of the Street People", named Zorba the Freak. Zorba liked to dish about other Yippies (who often recognized themselves in his stories) and became locally legendary, as well as an inside joke among the Yippies. According to Columbus poet-activist Steve Abbott:

In journalism, historically, columnists have created alter egos who they supposedly interview but who speak for them.
Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley ...
did Mr. Dooley. Mike Royko did Slats Grobnik. And
William Raspberry William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke Uni ...
always had the taxicab driver in Washington. Conliff had someone called Zorba the Freak—incredibly funny, incredibly well-written pieces that combine satire and commentary.

Blacklisted News

With

and the New Yippie Book Collective, Conliff published the 733-page anthology ''Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago 1968 to 1984'', foreword by

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

. Steve Conliff wrote over half of this volume, a detailed chronicle of specific Yippie actions all over the world (in the middle section titled "The Dreaded Yippie Curse") and a colorful collection of underground posters, jeremiads, essays, news clippings, comics, photos, articles, reviews and other counter-cultural history.

Personal life

Conliff met artist Suzan Bird in 1970, while she was working in the hippie enclave of Pearl Alley, adjacent to the OSU campus:

He was selling ''Purple Berries'', and he would come by E.G. Leather on Pearl Alley trying to get ads. It was one of the old hippie shops. I worked there at the time, so I would sit on the porch and talk to him, and we got to know each other fairly well just sitting and chatting.

The two married in 1973 and had three sons. Bird's art work often accompanied Conliff's written pieces, especially in ''Purple Berries'' and ''Sour Grapes''. Steve Conliff died of lung cancer on June 1, 2006.

Bibliography

* ''We Are Not McGovernable: What Cronkite Didn't Tell You about the '72 Democratic Convention'' -

, 1972 * ''Purple Berries'' and ''Sour Grapes'' - Ohio YIP periodicals, 1970-1974 * ''Subversive Scholastic'' 1978–1984 * ''Peace in Persia'' - Poetry inspired by the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...

, 1981 * ''

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...

: The Ballad of

'' - A lyric 'epic' poem first published in full in ''Blacklisted News''—has been excerpted numerous times as an obituary for Forcade and the "

Zippie Zippie was briefly the name of the breakaway Yippie faction that demonstrated at the 1972 Republican and Democratic Conventions in Miami Beach, Florida. The origin of the word is an evolution of the term Yippie, which was coined by the Youth Inter ...

s" (Zeitgeist International Party) -- the radical breakaway Yippie faction that demonstrated at the 1972

and

Democratic Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

s in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

. * ''Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago, '68, to 1984'' - Bleecker Publishing, 1983 * ''Chief Buffalo'' and ''The Green Arm'' - Two novels uploaded to the free internet in the early 00s, now unavailable, circa 2003 * ''8060 Olentangy River Road'' posthumously published, 2010

References

External links

Steve Conliff: A legend has passed away but his spirit is with us

''STATE v. CONLIFF'' : 28 December 1978 , COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

PHOTO : Steve Conliff making speech at Rock Against Reagan concert, Ohio State House, April 30, 1983
(Yippie archives)
YIPPIE ISSUED KENT STATE RELATED ANTI OHIO GOVERNOR PIE IN FACE BUTTON
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conliff, Steven Yippies 1949 births 2006 deaths Deaths from cancer in Ohio Deaths from lung cancer Native American writers Native American activists Activists from Ohio American anti–Vietnam War activists American cannabis activists American political writers New Left