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San Francisco Fifty Years Ago
SAN FRANCISCO FIFTY YEARS AGO
(Kenneth Rexroth's columns for the San Francisco Examiner)
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sfe/
In January 1960 the San Francisco Examiner (a Hearst newspaper) offered
Kenneth Rexroth a job writing a weekly column. He accepted. By May 1961 the
column had proved popular enough that he was asked to do two and sometimes
even three per week.
The association was an odd one. Although Rexroth was by that time a
well-known figure in the Bay Area, he was known primarily as a political and
cultural radical, and even (somewhat misleadingly) as "the godfather of the
Beat Generation." But he was willing to work for the Examiner as long as
they gave him complete freedom to write whatever he wanted. They did so
until June 1967, when they fired him after he wrote a particularly scathing
article about the American police.
All told, Rexroth wrote approximately 700 columns for the Examiner.
I am tentatively planning to post all of them 50 years after their original
appearance. If all goes well and don't get OD'd with the project, it will be
completed on June 18, 2017.
Normally I plan to post each column on the exact 50th anniversary of its
original appearance. But to kick-start the series, I have posted the first
five all at once -- January 31, 1960, plus the four from February.
Needless to say, the columns vary widely in topic and interest. Some offer
incisive commentary that remains astonishingly relevant on all sorts of
general issues, social, political, cultural, urbanistic and ecological.
Others are more dated, such as reviews of particular musical or theatrical
performances. I think you will find, however, that his remarks about even
the most ephemeral topics are full of amusing observations and perceptive
insights; and that the ensemble constitutes a unique and fascinating
chronicle of those eventful years.
The complete columns are being posted at
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sfe/
As a preview of things to come, you can also explore my earlier selection of
some of the more interesting columns at
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sf/
* * *
BUREAU OF PUBLIC SECRETS
P.O. Box 1044, Berkeley CA 94701
www.bopsecrets.org
"Making petrified conditions dance by singing them their own tune."
----
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(Kenneth Rexroth's columns for the San Francisco Examiner)
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sfe/
In January 1960 the San Francisco Examiner (a Hearst newspaper) offered
Kenneth Rexroth a job writing a weekly column. He accepted. By May 1961 the
column had proved popular enough that he was asked to do two and sometimes
even three per week.
The association was an odd one. Although Rexroth was by that time a
well-known figure in the Bay Area, he was known primarily as a political and
cultural radical, and even (somewhat misleadingly) as "the godfather of the
Beat Generation." But he was willing to work for the Examiner as long as
they gave him complete freedom to write whatever he wanted. They did so
until June 1967, when they fired him after he wrote a particularly scathing
article about the American police.
All told, Rexroth wrote approximately 700 columns for the Examiner.
I am tentatively planning to post all of them 50 years after their original
appearance. If all goes well and don't get OD'd with the project, it will be
completed on June 18, 2017.
Normally I plan to post each column on the exact 50th anniversary of its
original appearance. But to kick-start the series, I have posted the first
five all at once -- January 31, 1960, plus the four from February.
Needless to say, the columns vary widely in topic and interest. Some offer
incisive commentary that remains astonishingly relevant on all sorts of
general issues, social, political, cultural, urbanistic and ecological.
Others are more dated, such as reviews of particular musical or theatrical
performances. I think you will find, however, that his remarks about even
the most ephemeral topics are full of amusing observations and perceptive
insights; and that the ensemble constitutes a unique and fascinating
chronicle of those eventful years.
The complete columns are being posted at
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sfe/
As a preview of things to come, you can also explore my earlier selection of
some of the more interesting columns at
www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sf/
* * *
BUREAU OF PUBLIC SECRETS
P.O. Box 1044, Berkeley CA 94701
www.bopsecrets.org
"Making petrified conditions dance by singing them their own tune."
----
Message sent by the Situationist list.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe situationist" in the body of a message
to requests-AT-lists.nothingness.org
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