Walter Bowart
Encyclopedia
Walter Howard Bowart was an American
leader in the counterculture movement of the 1960s
, founder and editor of the first underground newspaper in New York City
, the East Village Other
, and author of the book Operation Mind Control.
, Nebraska
, Bowart was adopted as a newborn by Walter and Fenna Bowart. He was raised in Enid
, Oklahoma
, and won a McMahon Scholarship in journalism to the University of Oklahoma
. In the early 1960s Bowart moved to New York City
to pursue his interest in painting, and there he met his first wife Linda Dugmore, daughter of abstract expressionist
Edward Dugmore
, and had his first son Wolfe
.
In 1965, Bowart, along with John Wilcock
, Sherry Needham and Allen Katzman, founded the East Village Other
(EVO). EVO
offered a newsprint medium for the rants, artwork, poetry and comics of such 1960s icons as Timothy Leary
, Allen Ginsberg
, Abbie Hoffman
, Robert Crumb
, Marshall McLuhan
, Spain Rodriguez
, and The Fugs
. In 1966, Bowart testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency about banning LSD
. He drew national attention with his recommendations.
Through his connection with ex-Harvard professor Timothy Leary
, Walter met his second wife, Peggy Hitchcock. They moved to Tucson, Arizona
in 1968 where Bowart founded Omen Press, a publishing house for metaphysical books. Among other books, Omen Press published This Is The New Age In Person by “Sufi Sam”
, for which Bowart wrote the foreword. Bowart and Peggy Hitchcock had two daughters, Sophia and Nuria.
In 1973 Bowart located and reconnected with his biological parents, Thomas J. Kirby and Patricia J. Dooley, and discovered he had three younger sisters, Janet, Nancy and Kathy. His adoption had a profound impact on Bowart and he later published various articles under the names of his biological parents.
During this period Bowart wrote the book that was to become his seminal work, Operation Mind Control. Published by Dell
in 1978 with a foreword by The Manchurian Candidate
author Richard Condon
, Operation Mind Control was a 317-page investigative report into government mind control
through the use of drugs such as LSD
, behavior modification
, hypnosis
, and other “psycho-weapons”.
Following a Europe
an promotional tour, Bowart moved to Aspen
, Colorado
, where he continued his research, became a contributor to the Aspen Daily News, and met Margo Jordan, his third wife.
In the early 1980s, Bowart created and published the Port Townsend Daily News in Port Townsend, Washington, where he met and married Rebecca Fullerton and had his fourth child, Wythe. In the late 1980s, Walter moved to Palm Springs
, California
to become the editor of Palm Springs Life Magazine where he published articles under the name Thomas Kirby, Tom Kirby, and Tom J. Kirby as well as W.H. Bowart.
In Bowart’s later years, he researched and wrote prolifically. He created The Freedom of Thought Foundation; a non-profit dedicated to the education of the public about mind control
and was a frequently invited guest speaker at forums and conferences around the country.
Bowart died of colon cancer
at his sister's home in Inchelium, Washington on December 18, 2007. At the time of his death, Bowart was working on several screenplays and novels, one entitled, The Other Crusades, about New York City
in the early 1960s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
leader in the counterculture movement of the 1960s
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
, founder and editor of the first underground newspaper in 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...
, the East Village Other
East Village Other
The East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
, and author of the book Operation Mind Control.
Life and career
Born Walter Howard Kirby in OmahaOmaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Bowart was adopted as a newborn by Walter and Fenna Bowart. He was raised in Enid
Enid, Oklahoma
Enid is a city in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. In 2010, the population was 49,379, making it the ninth largest city in Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and won a McMahon Scholarship in journalism to the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. In the early 1960s Bowart 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...
to pursue his interest in painting, and there he met his first wife Linda Dugmore, daughter of abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
Edward Dugmore
Edward Dugmore
Edward Dugmore was an abstract expressionist painter known for close ties to both the San Francisco and New York art worlds in post-war era following World War II. Since 1950 he had more than two dozen solo exhibitions of his paintings in galleries across the United States...
, and had his first son Wolfe
Wolfe Bowart
Wolfe Bowart is a modern-day physical comedian, actor and playwright whose work is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. His current touring productions include Letter's End, LaLaLuna and The Man the Sea Saw...
.
In 1965, Bowart, along with John Wilcock
John Wilcock
John Wilcock is a British journalist known for his work in the underground press, as well as his travel guide books....
, Sherry Needham and Allen Katzman, founded the East Village Other
East Village Other
The East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
(EVO). EVO
East Village Other
The East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
offered a newsprint medium for the rants, artwork, poetry and comics of such 1960s icons as Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
, Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
, Spain Rodriguez
Spain Rodriguez
Manuel Rodriguez , better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, is an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang, the Road Vultures, provided inspiration for his work, as did his left-wing politics.-Biography:Born in Buffalo, New...
, and The Fugs
The Fugs
The Fugs are a band formed in New York in late 1964 by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy Modal Rounders...
. In 1966, Bowart testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency about banning LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. He drew national attention with his recommendations.
Through his connection with ex-Harvard professor Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, Walter met his second wife, Peggy Hitchcock. They moved to Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in 1968 where Bowart founded Omen Press, a publishing house for metaphysical books. Among other books, Omen Press published This Is The New Age In Person by “Sufi Sam”
Samuel L. Lewis
Samuel Lewis was an American mystic and dance teacher who founded the Dances of Universal Peace movement. He was also known under his Sufi name Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti and was addressed by his mureeds and others as Murshid...
, for which Bowart wrote the foreword. Bowart and Peggy Hitchcock had two daughters, Sophia and Nuria.
In 1973 Bowart located and reconnected with his biological parents, Thomas J. Kirby and Patricia J. Dooley, and discovered he had three younger sisters, Janet, Nancy and Kathy. His adoption had a profound impact on Bowart and he later published various articles under the names of his biological parents.
During this period Bowart wrote the book that was to become his seminal work, Operation Mind Control. Published by Dell
Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing, an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr.During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including pulp magazines. Their line of humor magazines included 1000 Jokes, launched in...
in 1978 with a foreword by The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate , by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party....
author Richard Condon
Richard Condon
Richard Thomas Condon was a prolific and popular American political novelist whose satiric works were generally presented in the form of thrillers or semi-thrillers...
, Operation Mind Control was a 317-page investigative report into government mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
through the use of drugs such as LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, behavior modification
Behavior modification
Behavior modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniques to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the reduction of...
, hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
, and other “psycho-weapons”.
Following a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an promotional tour, Bowart moved to Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, where he continued his research, became a contributor to the Aspen Daily News, and met Margo Jordan, his third wife.
In the early 1980s, Bowart created and published the Port Townsend Daily News in Port Townsend, Washington, where he met and married Rebecca Fullerton and had his fourth child, Wythe. In the late 1980s, Walter moved to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to become the editor of Palm Springs Life Magazine where he published articles under the name Thomas Kirby, Tom Kirby, and Tom J. Kirby as well as W.H. Bowart.
In Bowart’s later years, he researched and wrote prolifically. He created The Freedom of Thought Foundation; a non-profit dedicated to the education of the public about mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
and was a frequently invited guest speaker at forums and conferences around the country.
Bowart died of colon cancer
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
at his sister's home in Inchelium, Washington on December 18, 2007. At the time of his death, Bowart was working on several screenplays and novels, one entitled, The Other Crusades, about 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...
in the early 1960s.
External links
- Obituary in The Times, 23 January 2008
- The Invisible Third World War, synoptic chapter outline of Bowart's unfinished manuscript, from 1990, co-written with Richard Sutton
- Interview of Bowart by Ned Potter
- Interview of Bowart by Dave Emory