Steven Hager
Encyclopedia
Steven Hager, a writer, journalist, filmmaker, and counterculture
and cannabis
activist, was born May 25, 1951, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the son of Lowell P. Hager and Francis Erea Hager.
zine
that was given away free. Two years later, while a student at Urbana High School
, he created The Tin Whistle, a monthly newspaper that was eventually distributed in four high schools in Central Illinois
. One of his friends, Jim Wilson, became the first black elected Senior Class President at Urbana High. Wilson was later banned from the football team, even though he had been the starting end and place kicker because of his association with Hager. Hager briefly visited Haight-Ashbury in 1968, and the following year he attended the first Woodstock festival. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater (Playwriting), and a Masters of Science in Journalism
, both from the University of Illinois
.
After graduation, Hager moved to New York City
, worked for a number of magazines before becoming a reporter for the New York Daily News
. During this time, he began researching the hip hop
movement of the South Bronx
. His first article on the subculture was published on the cover of the Village Voice and was the first time the words "hip hop" appeared in print. Hager based his article on interviews with Afrika Bambaataa
, founder of the Zulu Nation
, and one of the three original hip hop DJs
(the others being Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash
). Hager sold his original story Beat Street
to Harry Belafonte
, and the film with the same name
was distributed by Orion Pictures
. In 1984, St. Martins' Press released his book, Hip Hop, the first history of rap music, break dancing and graffiti art. He followed that book with "Art After Midnight," an examination of the New York club scene and its influence on artists, primarily Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring
and Kenny Scharf
. (The entire text of Art After Midnight (including the much-quoted Basquiat interview) was reprinted in The Octopus Conspiracy and Other Vignettes of the Counterculture: From Hippies to High Times to Hip-Hop and Beyond as well as Adventures in the Counterculture.)
and heroin) from the magazine, and concentrating on advocating personal cultivation
of cannabis. Hager became the first editor in the world to publish and promote the work of hemp activist Jack Herer
. Hager also created the Cannabis Cup
, a cannabis awards ceremony held every Thanksgiving
in Amsterdam
, and The Freedom Fighters
, the first hemp
legalization group. The High Times Freedom Fighters
were famous for dressing up in Colonial
outifts and organizing hemp
rallies across America
. One rally, The Boston Freedom Rally, quickly became the largest political event in the country, drawing an audience of over 100,000 to the Boston Common. Hager created a garage-rock revival band called the Soul Assassins. The band played many of the rallies. Their biggest show was opening for the Butthole Surfers
in front of 50,000 people in Washington, DC. During this time, Hager asked his friend from high school, Jim Wilson, to become a columnist for the magazine. Wilson became known as Chef Ra
and contributed a cooking-with-pot article in every magazine for 15 years. Chef Ra
was also a member of the High Times Freedom Fighters
and became the featured speaker at many of the rallies.
In September, 1991, Hager wrote an article in High Times titled "Heritage of Stone," a comprehensive analysis of the John F. Kennedy assassination that has been widely circulated on the internet as a definitive article on the subject. Judge Jim Garrison cited it as "the best magazine article ever written on the subject." The article indicated Kennedy was likely murdered because of his growing opposition to the Vietnam War, and implicated J. Edgar Hoover and Allen Dulles in the cover-up.
In the 1990s, Hager turned the membership list of the Freedom Fighters over to NORML, and began concentrating on creating events that advocated the environmental benefits of hemp while also demonstrating the spiritual uses of cannabis
. The World Hemp Expo Extravaganja, or Whee! Festivals, were held in Oregon
, Washington, Michigan
, New York
, and Ohio
. Unfortunately, most of the promoters who held Whee! festivals found themselves subject to intense law enforcement efforts to shut down their venues. The primary focus of Whee! was a silent, Sunday, sunset meditation for peace in the drug war
. During this period, Hager began promoting 420 (cannabis culture)
as a central ceremony in the Cannabis Cup and the Whee festivals. Because of this, he was contacted by the Waldos, the inventors of 420, and became the first person to interview the Waldos.
Hager learned to shoot and edit video and started documenting all research on videotape. Over the past 15 years he has produced several feature documentaries and assembled one of the world's largest archives of cannabis-related video. Documentaries Hager has produced include: "Let Freedom Ring," "Secrets of the Dutch Grow Masters," "The Cannabis Cup," "Saint Stephen," "The Tom Forcade Story," and "The 20th Cannabis Cup." In 2002 he directed the video shoot that was later released as Live in Amsterdam (Fishbone album). In 2004, he wrote most of the narration for a/k/a Tommy Chong
and also appears in the film. Hager also appears in Episode #12 ("Pittsburgh") of the Showtime TV show Weeds
, playing himself at an event modeled on the Cannabis Cup
.
In 1997, Hager created the Counterculture Hall of Fame
as part of the ceremonies at the Cannabis Cup
. The first inductee was Bob Marley
. In 2011, Johnny Griggs, the founder of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, will be inducted.
Hager's most recent book, The Octopus Conspiracy and Other Vignettes of the Counterculture: From Hippies to High Times to Hip-Hop and Beyond, was published by Trine Day. The book is a collection of magazine articles and previous books by Hager, and the chapter "Nomenclature of an Octopus Cabal" theorizes that a network of secret societies manufactures war for profit and social control. In 2007, he produced a reality television
show based around his job at High Times magazine. His long-term project is called the Peace Trail Project, which hopes to establish a permanent migratory tribe of all cultures that moves south in the Winter and north in the Summer.
In 2009, Hager wrote a groundbreaking story on Rick Simpson, a Canadian who has been using cannabis oil to treat cancer and other diseases with amazing anecdotal success. After the article was published in High Times, Simpson's home was raided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The complete article is available on Hager's wordpress blog.
On April 25, 2010, Hager spoke at Jack Herer's funeral, calling for April 20 to be made into Jack Herer day. The speech is contained in a YouTube video titled "Tribute to Jack Herer."
Hager's Whee! ceremony returned in 2010, over Memorial Day weekend in Red Bluff, CA. Around 6,000 people attended Whee 2010 despite intense effort by some county officials to stop the event from happening.
Hager also regularly appears on college campuses, sometimes solo, but usually as part of a debate on the legalization of cannabis, alongside former New York City D.E.A. chief Robert Stutman. The event, known as "Heads versus Feds," began in 2001 and has visited more than 200 colleges in ten years, regularly drawing standing-room crowds. The debate is booked by Wolfman Productions in Connecticut.
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
and cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
activist, was born May 25, 1951, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the son of Lowell P. Hager and Francis Erea Hager.
Early life and career
While a student in junior high, he established his first publication, The Captain Crunch Courier, a humor xeroxXerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
that was given away free. Two years later, while a student at Urbana High School
Urbana High School (Illinois)
-History:Urbana High School's current building was built in 1914. It was designed by architect Joseph Royer who also designed many other area buildings such as the Urbana Free Library and the Champaign County Court House...
, he created The Tin Whistle, a monthly newspaper that was eventually distributed in four high schools in Central Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. One of his friends, Jim Wilson, became the first black elected Senior Class President at Urbana High. Wilson was later banned from the football team, even though he had been the starting end and place kicker because of his association with Hager. Hager briefly visited Haight-Ashbury in 1968, and the following year he attended the first Woodstock festival. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater (Playwriting), and a Masters of Science in Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, both from the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
.
After graduation, Hager moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, worked for a number of magazines before becoming a reporter for the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
. During this time, he began researching the hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
movement of the South Bronx
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
. His first article on the subculture was published on the cover of the Village Voice and was the first time the words "hip hop" appeared in print. Hager based his article on interviews with Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
, founder of the Zulu Nation
Universal Zulu Nation
|rightThe Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed and headed by hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Originally known simply as the Organization, it arose in the 1970s as reformed New York City gang members began to organize cultural events for youths, combining local...
, and one of the three original hip hop DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
(the others being Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash
Joseph Saddler better known as King Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing....
). Hager sold his original story Beat Street
Beat Street
Beat Street is a 1984 drama film, following Wild Style in featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s; breakdancing, DJing, and graffiti.-Plot:...
to Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, and the film with the same name
Beat Street
Beat Street is a 1984 drama film, following Wild Style in featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s; breakdancing, DJing, and graffiti.-Plot:...
was distributed by Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
. In 1984, St. Martins' Press released his book, Hip Hop, the first history of rap music, break dancing and graffiti art. He followed that book with "Art After Midnight," an examination of the New York club scene and its influence on artists, primarily Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
and Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds...
. (The entire text of Art After Midnight (including the much-quoted Basquiat interview) was reprinted in The Octopus Conspiracy and Other Vignettes of the Counterculture: From Hippies to High Times to Hip-Hop and Beyond as well as Adventures in the Counterculture.)
Career with High Times
In 1988, Hager was hired as editor of High Times magazine. He is most famous for removing hard drugs (e.g., cocaineCocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and heroin) from the magazine, and concentrating on advocating personal cultivation
Cannabis (drug) cultivation
This article presents common techniques and facts regarding the cultivation of the flowering plant cannabis, primarily for the production and consumption of marijuana buds. Cultivation techniques for other purposes differ...
of cannabis. Hager became the first editor in the world to publish and promote the work of hemp activist Jack Herer
Jack Herer
Jack Herer was an American cannabis activist and the author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a book which has been used in efforts to decriminalize cannabis.-Biography:...
. Hager also created the Cannabis Cup
Cannabis Cup
The High Times Cannabis Cup is the world’s preeminent Cannabis festival. Founded in 1987 by Steven Hager, the High Times Cannabis Cup takes place each November in Amsterdam. The event allows judges from around the world to sample and vote for their favorite marijuana strains...
, a cannabis awards ceremony held every Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, and The Freedom Fighters
High Times Freedom Fighters
The High Times Freedom Fighters was a marijuana legalization group started by High Times Editor-in-Chief Steven Hager in 1987. The group was famous for marching into marijuana rallies dressed in psychedelic Colonial-style outfits while playing drums...
, the first hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
legalization group. The High Times Freedom Fighters
High Times Freedom Fighters
The High Times Freedom Fighters was a marijuana legalization group started by High Times Editor-in-Chief Steven Hager in 1987. The group was famous for marching into marijuana rallies dressed in psychedelic Colonial-style outfits while playing drums...
were famous for dressing up in Colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
outifts and organizing hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
rallies across America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. One rally, The Boston Freedom Rally, quickly became the largest political event in the country, drawing an audience of over 100,000 to the Boston Common. Hager created a garage-rock revival band called the Soul Assassins. The band played many of the rallies. Their biggest show was opening for the Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
in front of 50,000 people in Washington, DC. During this time, Hager asked his friend from high school, Jim Wilson, to become a columnist for the magazine. Wilson became known as Chef Ra
Chef Ra
Chef Ra , born Jim Wilson, Jr., was a long-time marijuana advocate and cannabis foods writer in the United States. After gaining notoriety as a ganja gourmet, he began writing his High Times column, "Chef Ra's Psychedelic Kitchen", in 1988 at the request of editor Steve Hager...
and contributed a cooking-with-pot article in every magazine for 15 years. Chef Ra
Chef Ra
Chef Ra , born Jim Wilson, Jr., was a long-time marijuana advocate and cannabis foods writer in the United States. After gaining notoriety as a ganja gourmet, he began writing his High Times column, "Chef Ra's Psychedelic Kitchen", in 1988 at the request of editor Steve Hager...
was also a member of the High Times Freedom Fighters
High Times Freedom Fighters
The High Times Freedom Fighters was a marijuana legalization group started by High Times Editor-in-Chief Steven Hager in 1987. The group was famous for marching into marijuana rallies dressed in psychedelic Colonial-style outfits while playing drums...
and became the featured speaker at many of the rallies.
In September, 1991, Hager wrote an article in High Times titled "Heritage of Stone," a comprehensive analysis of the John F. Kennedy assassination that has been widely circulated on the internet as a definitive article on the subject. Judge Jim Garrison cited it as "the best magazine article ever written on the subject." The article indicated Kennedy was likely murdered because of his growing opposition to the Vietnam War, and implicated J. Edgar Hoover and Allen Dulles in the cover-up.
In the 1990s, Hager turned the membership list of the Freedom Fighters over to NORML, and began concentrating on creating events that advocated the environmental benefits of hemp while also demonstrating the spiritual uses of cannabis
Spiritual use of cannabis
Sacramental, religious and spiritual use of cannabis refers to cannabis used in a religious or spiritual context. Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual usage as an aid to trance and has been traditionally used in a religious context throughout the Old World....
. The World Hemp Expo Extravaganja, or Whee! Festivals, were held in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Washington, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and 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...
. Unfortunately, most of the promoters who held Whee! festivals found themselves subject to intense law enforcement efforts to shut down their venues. The primary focus of Whee! was a silent, Sunday, sunset meditation for peace in the drug war
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
. During this period, Hager began promoting 420 (cannabis culture)
420 (cannabis culture)
420, 4:20 or 4/20 refers to consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with cannabis subculture. The notable day for these is April 20.- Origins of terms :...
as a central ceremony in the Cannabis Cup and the Whee festivals. Because of this, he was contacted by the Waldos, the inventors of 420, and became the first person to interview the Waldos.
Hager learned to shoot and edit video and started documenting all research on videotape. Over the past 15 years he has produced several feature documentaries and assembled one of the world's largest archives of cannabis-related video. Documentaries Hager has produced include: "Let Freedom Ring," "Secrets of the Dutch Grow Masters," "The Cannabis Cup," "Saint Stephen," "The Tom Forcade Story," and "The 20th Cannabis Cup." In 2002 he directed the video shoot that was later released as Live in Amsterdam (Fishbone album). In 2004, he wrote most of the narration for a/k/a Tommy Chong
A/k/a Tommy Chong
a/k/a Tommy Chong, written, produced, and directed by Josh Gilbert, is a documentary film that chronicles the Drug Enforcement Administration raid on comedian Tommy Chong's house and his subsequent jail sentence for trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia...
and also appears in the film. Hager also appears in Episode #12 ("Pittsburgh") of the Showtime TV show Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, playing himself at an event modeled on the Cannabis Cup
Cannabis Cup
The High Times Cannabis Cup is the world’s preeminent Cannabis festival. Founded in 1987 by Steven Hager, the High Times Cannabis Cup takes place each November in Amsterdam. The event allows judges from around the world to sample and vote for their favorite marijuana strains...
.
In 1997, Hager created the Counterculture Hall of Fame
Counterculture Hall of Fame
The Counterculture Hall of Fame was created in 1997 by High Times Editor Steven Hager. The purpose of the Hall of Fame was to help focus ceremonies at the annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, and to celebrate the history of the counterculture by recognizing its saints. The inductions are done in...
as part of the ceremonies at the Cannabis Cup
Cannabis Cup
The High Times Cannabis Cup is the world’s preeminent Cannabis festival. Founded in 1987 by Steven Hager, the High Times Cannabis Cup takes place each November in Amsterdam. The event allows judges from around the world to sample and vote for their favorite marijuana strains...
. The first inductee was Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
. In 2011, Johnny Griggs, the founder of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, will be inducted.
Hager's most recent book, The Octopus Conspiracy and Other Vignettes of the Counterculture: From Hippies to High Times to Hip-Hop and Beyond, was published by Trine Day. The book is a collection of magazine articles and previous books by Hager, and the chapter "Nomenclature of an Octopus Cabal" theorizes that a network of secret societies manufactures war for profit and social control. In 2007, he produced a reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show based around his job at High Times magazine. His long-term project is called the Peace Trail Project, which hopes to establish a permanent migratory tribe of all cultures that moves south in the Winter and north in the Summer.
In 2009, Hager wrote a groundbreaking story on Rick Simpson, a Canadian who has been using cannabis oil to treat cancer and other diseases with amazing anecdotal success. After the article was published in High Times, Simpson's home was raided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The complete article is available on Hager's wordpress blog.
On April 25, 2010, Hager spoke at Jack Herer's funeral, calling for April 20 to be made into Jack Herer day. The speech is contained in a YouTube video titled "Tribute to Jack Herer."
Hager's Whee! ceremony returned in 2010, over Memorial Day weekend in Red Bluff, CA. Around 6,000 people attended Whee 2010 despite intense effort by some county officials to stop the event from happening.
Hager also regularly appears on college campuses, sometimes solo, but usually as part of a debate on the legalization of cannabis, alongside former New York City D.E.A. chief Robert Stutman. The event, known as "Heads versus Feds," began in 2001 and has visited more than 200 colleges in ten years, regularly drawing standing-room crowds. The debate is booked by Wolfman Productions in Connecticut.