Gregory Sams (born 1948 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) is a UK-based, American-born,

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illu ...

artist, author and publisher.

Life and works

Greg has been a wheelchair user since falling from a tree whilst a freshman at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

. Greg moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and, aged 19, then subsequently opened SEED, a

macrobiotic A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a fad diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce ...

restaurant in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

with his brother

Craig Sams Craig Sams (born 17 July 1944) is a UK-based businessman and author. Early life and education Craig Sams was born in Nebraska. He graduated from Wharton Business School in 1966. Career In October 1966, Sams went to England with plans to open a ma ...

in 1968. SEED Restaurant soon became popular with the 1960s London

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

scene, and was frequented by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

among others, who drew a cartoon about his experiences at SEED. The Sams brothers opened a specialised macrobiotic foodshop, Ceres Grain, the following year. To spread the word about Ceres and SEED, Greg published three editions of a specialised magazine called 'Harmony'. During the 1970s, Greg, his brother Craig and their father Ken edited and published a magazine called 'Seed, the Journal of Organic Living' over a seven-year period. In 1970 Greg and Craig set up Harmony Foods, which eventually became known as Whole Earth Foods. In 1982, Greg left Whole Earth Foods with his brother who went on to become chairperson of the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establis ...

, and develop Green & Blacks organic chocolate with his partner. In 1990, Sams opened Strange Attractions in London, the only shop in the world dedicated to

chaos theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have co ...

. He became known for his

fractal art Fractal art is a form of algorithmic art created by calculating fractal objects and representing the calculation results as still digital images, animations, and media. Fractal art developed from the mid-1980s onwards. It is a genre of computer ...

, his designs adorning postcards, t-shirts and textiles all over the world. \\ An enthusiast of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

movement, such as the

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

street reclaiming Street reclaiming is the process of converting, or otherwise returning streets to a stronger focus on Alternatives to car use, non-car use — such as walking, cycling and active lifestyle, active street life. It is advocated by many urban plannin ...

events in the UK and elsewhere such as

Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisa ...

, Sams began writing books that were promoted at these events, as well as during various

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minute ( ...

psytrance Psychedelic Trance, Psytrance or Psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full ...

and

acid techno Acid techno, sometimes known generally as "acid", is a genre of techno that was derived from acid house and developed in Europe in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It saw younger artists apply the "squelching" synthesizer sound of Chicago acid hou ...

raves A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

and

free parties Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

around the UK. ''Uncommon Sense - the State is Out of Date'' was published in 1998 in which he put forward his views on the importance of

in the way we live - and should live - our lives. In 2006 he completed a new book, ''Sun of gOd - Discover the Self-Organizing Consciousness That Underlies Everything''. Sams has been a regular on the world music festival scene since he provided the macrobiotic catering at the first

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, known as Glastonbury Fair in 1971. A regular of events such as Pendragon at the now defunct Tyssen Street Theatre Factory, he still travels to music festivals, solar eclipses, and festivals such as The Glade. He was interviewed on the ''Liquid Crystal Vision'' film which has been viewed at many festivals.

Books

*''The State is Out of Date, We Can do it Better'', 4th edition 2014, *''Sun of gOd - Discover the Self-Organizing Consciousness That Underlies Everything'' Spring 2009,

Weiser Books Red Wheel Weiser Conari, also known in different periods in its history as RedWheel/Weiser, LLC and Samuel Weiser, Inc., is a book publisher with three imprints: Red Wheel, Weiser Books and Conari Books. It is America's second-largest publisher ...

Graham Hancock Graham Bruce Hancock (born 2 August 1950) is a British writer who promotes pseudoscientific theories involving ancient civilizations and lost lands. Hancock speculates that an advanced ice age civilization was destroyed in a cataclysm, but th ...

(Foreword),

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sams, Greg 1948 births University of California, Berkeley alumni Living people People from Los Angeles People educated at St Mary's Town and Country School American male writers Mathematical artists Psychedelic artists