My mother was living on St. Mark's Place at that very time. I just asked her if she remembered Ben Morea, and she didn't specifically, but she does very clearly recall Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker and her general sense that they were a bunch of crazy malcontents.
I dont really know why we spend ink on these people other than some sort of morbid curiosity. This was a self destructive and generally worthless cohort if I've ever seen one .... we know them by their fruits.
I don’t entirely disagree. I was drawn to him when I was much younger, and he holds a special place in countercultural lore. He was in some ways fascinating, and I hope my piece captures that. But if I were to write about him now, I’d be more critical. Their politics of confrontation provoked tremendous backlash and alienated potential allies, a bit like today’s uber-delusional woke morons.
I understand why you are interested and these are genuinely interesting people … more so in retrospect. Take Solanas for example: she was severely mentally ill from childhood abuse and instead of helping her those who surrounded her just dumped more gasoline onto the bonfire of her psychosis.
It’s interesting that every sort of left wing political and social movement seems to have a sect that craves no defined leadership in the pursuit of the “perfect“ movement that finally fixes things once and for all. Occupy Wall street essentially played out the same story about 50 years later. Once the dust clears the only thing that the people originally involved seem to positively look back on is the actual material help they organized, like feeding and housing people.
Thanks for posting your older work. I never would have had the pleasure of reading it otherwise.
Thanks so much, Kaelen, for reading and subscribing. I appreciate it. Your point is well-taken. It’s a big theme in my first book, “Smoking Typewriters,” on the late-60s underground press. That movement began with smart, experienced, hard-working young journalists leading the way. But then radicals declared they didn’t want “leaders,” and everything had to be decentralized, with maximum community involvement and no one receiving credit for any achievements. The most conscientious writers and editors — who knew what they were doing — we purged or sidelined. Then the underground papers quickly turned to shit.
Interesting, I'll definitely pick up a copy. I've always been interested in underground newspapers and zines and it seemed odd to me that they just kind of disappeared as a medium. Dying to leftist infighting and subsequent mismanagement seems par for the course.
Say whatever you want about Ben Morea - and your essay really was marvelous - but as an announcement of someone's passing, I find your introductory remarks simply dark and disrespectful.
My mother was living on St. Mark's Place at that very time. I just asked her if she remembered Ben Morea, and she didn't specifically, but she does very clearly recall Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker and her general sense that they were a bunch of crazy malcontents.
I dont really know why we spend ink on these people other than some sort of morbid curiosity. This was a self destructive and generally worthless cohort if I've ever seen one .... we know them by their fruits.
I don’t entirely disagree. I was drawn to him when I was much younger, and he holds a special place in countercultural lore. He was in some ways fascinating, and I hope my piece captures that. But if I were to write about him now, I’d be more critical. Their politics of confrontation provoked tremendous backlash and alienated potential allies, a bit like today’s uber-delusional woke morons.
I understand why you are interested and these are genuinely interesting people … more so in retrospect. Take Solanas for example: she was severely mentally ill from childhood abuse and instead of helping her those who surrounded her just dumped more gasoline onto the bonfire of her psychosis.
It’s interesting that every sort of left wing political and social movement seems to have a sect that craves no defined leadership in the pursuit of the “perfect“ movement that finally fixes things once and for all. Occupy Wall street essentially played out the same story about 50 years later. Once the dust clears the only thing that the people originally involved seem to positively look back on is the actual material help they organized, like feeding and housing people.
Thanks for posting your older work. I never would have had the pleasure of reading it otherwise.
Thanks so much, Kaelen, for reading and subscribing. I appreciate it. Your point is well-taken. It’s a big theme in my first book, “Smoking Typewriters,” on the late-60s underground press. That movement began with smart, experienced, hard-working young journalists leading the way. But then radicals declared they didn’t want “leaders,” and everything had to be decentralized, with maximum community involvement and no one receiving credit for any achievements. The most conscientious writers and editors — who knew what they were doing — we purged or sidelined. Then the underground papers quickly turned to shit.
Interesting, I'll definitely pick up a copy. I've always been interested in underground newspapers and zines and it seemed odd to me that they just kind of disappeared as a medium. Dying to leftist infighting and subsequent mismanagement seems par for the course.
Say whatever you want about Ben Morea - and your essay really was marvelous - but as an announcement of someone's passing, I find your introductory remarks simply dark and disrespectful.
Osha was a teacher at my junior high school.
Wow! Do you know if he’s still alive? He writes really well.
https://thestreetspirit.org/2026/01/06/in-dialogue-with-osha-neumann/
http://www.oshaneumann.com/
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/02/07/osha-neumann-retires-civil-rights-lawyer-homeless-peoples-park