Steve Conliff
Encyclopedia
Steven Conliff was a Midwestern-based, Native American writer, historian, social satirist and political activist in the 1960s and 1970s. He is chiefly remembered for throwing a banana cream pie
at James A. Rhodes, the governor of Ohio
, in 1977, after Rhodes approved the infamous Kent State Shootings
.
Conliff was an important leader of the Yippies' second wave, which included well-known activists such as AJ Weberman, Aron Kay (another famous pie thrower), David Peel, and Dana Beal
. He was also the transatlantic coordinator of the Rock Against Racism USA campaign of 1979, helping to organize concerts in Columbus, Chicago, and New York City. In his own words, he "reversed dangerous historical trends through antics like 'the Conliff precedent' (disrespect which doesn't impede justice isn't contempt of court)." He grew up on absorbing oral history dating to the Revolutionary War from relatives like his great-uncle Carl Miller, the first Indian Reorganization chief.
In the summer of 1970, Steven E. Conliff started his first alternative publication, Purple Berries, and met artist Suzan Bird. They married in 1973 and had three sons; Byron (1981), Nicholai (1986), and Leon (1993)). Both contributed to the Columbus Free Press
(1971–92), YIPster TImes (1972–78), Subversive Scholastic (1978–84), HVPTA / Bite Magazine (1978-80), and Overthrow (1979–98). One of his continuing characters, "the Leader of the Street People" Zorba the Freak, became legendary. Suzan's artwork frequently accompanied her husband's writings.
With Dana Beal and the YIPPIES (Youth International Party), Conliff put out the anthology "Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago 1968 to 1984", forward by William Kunstler
(Bleecker 1983). Steve's work also appeared in High Times, New From Indian Country and The Mohican News, and he ran the Columbus Entertainment magazine from 1986 to 1988. He edited and published his father's account of World War II in the Aleutians, E.B. Conliff's History of the 37th Infantry (Bleecker 1994), ghost-wrote a 1992 campaign biography that helped oust a local despot (Smith: Portrait of a Sheriff), and authored several influential reports condemning Battelle Memorial Institute's involvement in the Fernald uranium processing facility clean-up.
A tribal descendant, Conliff presented papers detailing Mohican Indian history on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation (2001) and at the New York State Museum in Albany (2004). He contributed American Indian ethnography to Notable Native Americans (Gale 1993) and Volume 1 of the Gale Encyclopedia if NAtive American Tribes (Gale 1998).
His published poetry includes Peace in Persia (1981) and the 1979 epic Zeitgiest: The Ballad of Tom Forcade (Blacklisted News), a history of the counter-culture The Dreaded Yippie Curse, ibid and two novels available on-line, Chief Buffalo and The Green Arm, a satire of weapons of mass destruction. His most recent work published after his death is "8060 Olentangy River Road", a history of land in Delaware County Ohio.
An account of Conliff's early career is in Steve Abbott's Karl and Groucho Marxist Dance Voices Underground: Insiders Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press, Vol.1, Ken Wachsberger, ED, (Mica's Press 1993)
He died of lung cancer on June 1, 2006.
Pieing
Pieing is the act of throwing a pie at a person or persons. This can be a political action when the target is an authority figure, politician, or celebrity and can be used as a means of protesting against the target's political beliefs, or against perceived arrogance or vanity. Perpetrators...
at James A. Rhodes, the governor of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, in 1977, after Rhodes approved the infamous Kent State Shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
.
Conliff was an important leader of the Yippies' second wave, which included well-known activists such as AJ Weberman, Aron Kay (another famous pie thrower), David Peel, and Dana Beal
Dana Beal
Irvin Dana Beal is an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana...
. He was also the transatlantic coordinator of the Rock Against Racism USA campaign of 1979, helping to organize concerts in Columbus, Chicago, and New York City. In his own words, he "reversed dangerous historical trends through antics like 'the Conliff precedent' (disrespect which doesn't impede justice isn't contempt of court)." He grew up on absorbing oral history dating to the Revolutionary War from relatives like his great-uncle Carl Miller, the first Indian Reorganization chief.
In the summer of 1970, Steven E. Conliff started his first alternative publication, Purple Berries, and met artist Suzan Bird. They married in 1973 and had three sons; Byron (1981), Nicholai (1986), and Leon (1993)). Both contributed to the Columbus Free Press
Columbus Free Press
The Columbus Free Press is an alternative journal published in Columbus, Ohio since October 11, 1970. This publication originally focused on anti-war and alternative culture issues...
(1971–92), YIPster TImes (1972–78), Subversive Scholastic (1978–84), HVPTA / Bite Magazine (1978-80), and Overthrow (1979–98). One of his continuing characters, "the Leader of the Street People" Zorba the Freak, became legendary. Suzan's artwork frequently accompanied her husband's writings.
With Dana Beal and the YIPPIES (Youth International Party), Conliff put out the anthology "Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago 1968 to 1984", forward by William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
(Bleecker 1983). Steve's work also appeared in High Times, New From Indian Country and The Mohican News, and he ran the Columbus Entertainment magazine from 1986 to 1988. He edited and published his father's account of World War II in the Aleutians, E.B. Conliff's History of the 37th Infantry (Bleecker 1994), ghost-wrote a 1992 campaign biography that helped oust a local despot (Smith: Portrait of a Sheriff), and authored several influential reports condemning Battelle Memorial Institute's involvement in the Fernald uranium processing facility clean-up.
A tribal descendant, Conliff presented papers detailing Mohican Indian history on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation (2001) and at the New York State Museum in Albany (2004). He contributed American Indian ethnography to Notable Native Americans (Gale 1993) and Volume 1 of the Gale Encyclopedia if NAtive American Tribes (Gale 1998).
His published poetry includes Peace in Persia (1981) and the 1979 epic Zeitgiest: The Ballad of Tom Forcade (Blacklisted News), a history of the counter-culture The Dreaded Yippie Curse, ibid and two novels available on-line, Chief Buffalo and The Green Arm, a satire of weapons of mass destruction. His most recent work published after his death is "8060 Olentangy River Road", a history of land in Delaware County Ohio.
An account of Conliff's early career is in Steve Abbott's Karl and Groucho Marxist Dance Voices Underground: Insiders Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press, Vol.1, Ken Wachsberger, ED, (Mica's Press 1993)
He died of lung cancer on June 1, 2006.
External links
- I wish someone would phone Steve Conliff and Yippies at the Republican Convention, Detroit 1980
- The Free Press obituary
- Steven Conliff 1949-2006