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Never stop the presses
By Jutta Biggerstaff / Hi-Desert Star
TWENTYNINE PALMS - The gathering evoked flashbacks of a '60s coffeehouse, minus the clouds of ubiquitous cigarette smoke. And instead of being young and idealistic, the intimate group was mostly well into middle age.
The occasion was the Sun Runner's April Salon, which was conducted under the tent at the Twentynine Palms Inn on a balmy spring evening. This month's event featured Art Kunkin, the founder of the L.A. Free Press, the nation's first underground newspaper. The evening was, in effect, a history lesson by a pivotal figure of the time.
Kunkin started the L.A. Free Press in May 1964, shortly after being visited by the FBI and fired from his job. The two events were not unrelated.
“The FBI asked if I was a Communist, and I said no,” he said. He told them, “I'm a dissident, not a terrorist.”
That and other egregious abuses of government power that were taking place across the country at that time motivated Kunkin to provide a voice for the increasingly disaffected population, mostly young people. More accurately, he gave them a platform from which to speak. Kunkin said he felt the Left had failed.
He started with $600.
“Basically, I was assembling the paper and didn't want to be affiliated with any party, Republican, Democrat or Socialist,” he said. “My idea was to have a paper that was written by its readers.”
This was during the height of the civil rights movement. The Vietnam War was escalating. There was an almost palpable energy in the air, and that energy slowly evolved into a movement. Thanks to Kunkin, the people were being heard.
The L.A. Free Press reported on a wide range of issues, from social injustices to political policies. It became a vehement opponent of the war. But the newspaper also became a proponent of the art, music and poetry of the time, much of which reflected societal turmoil and the need for governmental reform.
The newspaper was popular at its beginning, but after the events of Aug. 11, 1965, it became a major force for social change, and copies of the Freep, as it came to be known, flew off the shelves.
The story was what the L.A. Times and the mainstream media called a riot, and the participants were called criminals. But the Watts rebellion that torpid summer was about racism, inequality and police brutality.
The L.A. Free Press reported, “The Negroes Have Voted.”
It's hard to imagine a self-described mild-mannered person helping to foment and then spearhead such a massive movement for social change, but that's what happened 41 years ago.
“As a result of that story, I was on every talk show in L.A., and my readership jumped to 25,000,” Kunkin said.
Kunkin looks as if he hasn't aged in 40 years. He is trim, and his curly hair is dark. He was clad all in black, from his turtleneck to the sandals on his feet. His sagacious blue eyes and the reddish frames of his glasses provided the only color on his person. His only adornment was a teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from his neck.
In “The Blacklisted Journalist,” Lionel Roth, author of “Art Kunkin: Mystic in Paradise,” called Kunkin a metaphysical guru and the Freep an influential newspaper.
“ Š suddenly the hippie paper was sometimes more influential than the Times. It did so by the simple expedience of telling the truth.”
Kunkin provided several more examples of media malfeasance and political scandal, including a right wing plot to bomb the National Republican Convention and blame it on “radicals.” This nefarious plan was thwarted only after the venue was changed. Soon after, the Watergate scandal erupted.
Two years after the Watts rebellion, an event occurred that exemplified what the Free Press was all about, Kunkin said.
“There was a huge anti-war demonstration during a visit by President Johnson to Century City,” he said. “L.A. Times reporters covered the event, and after they filed their stories they were rewritten by the night editors.”
Kunkin said he saw his role as getting the news out to people at a time when mainstream reporters were being edited.
Even today, he said, the media doesn't do a good job of reporting dissent.
As it happens, Kunkin's presence at the Salon was about more than the past. He also discussed his newly revived L.A. Free Press. The publication is once again reporting dissent, protesting a new war and perhaps leading a new movement. But the new Freep has an added component, a spiritual element that has become an integral part of Kunkin's life.
Kunkin has been studying spiritualism and meditation since the '70s and, as such, he “came to the conclusion that religion is a lot of superstition.” He lives in Joshua Tree on the Mentalphysics grounds, and he's heavily involved with meditation - practicing and teaching. He calls it “simply a meeting that you have with yourself.” Further, Kunkin said he believes in the power of meditation to help change society.
Indeed, the new Freep has not shied away from today's contentious issues and the constant effort to make society better. And it seems current events are woefully similar to the ones of 40 years ago - war, injustice, government abuse, to name a few. But with the rebirth of the L.A. Free Press perhaps we will also see a new movement toward peace and change. In fact, Kunkin believes just such an event will occur.
“By September of this year there will be a peace movement on a scale of which we haven't seen,” he said.
The occasion was the Sun Runner's April Salon, which was conducted under the tent at the Twentynine Palms Inn on a balmy spring evening. This month's event featured Art Kunkin, the founder of the L.A. Free Press, the nation's first underground newspaper. The evening was, in effect, a history lesson by a pivotal figure of the time.
Kunkin started the L.A. Free Press in May 1964, shortly after being visited by the FBI and fired from his job. The two events were not unrelated.
“The FBI asked if I was a Communist, and I said no,” he said. He told them, “I'm a dissident, not a terrorist.”
That and other egregious abuses of government power that were taking place across the country at that time motivated Kunkin to provide a voice for the increasingly disaffected population, mostly young people. More accurately, he gave them a platform from which to speak. Kunkin said he felt the Left had failed.
He started with $600.
“Basically, I was assembling the paper and didn't want to be affiliated with any party, Republican, Democrat or Socialist,” he said. “My idea was to have a paper that was written by its readers.”
This was during the height of the civil rights movement. The Vietnam War was escalating. There was an almost palpable energy in the air, and that energy slowly evolved into a movement. Thanks to Kunkin, the people were being heard.
The L.A. Free Press reported on a wide range of issues, from social injustices to political policies. It became a vehement opponent of the war. But the newspaper also became a proponent of the art, music and poetry of the time, much of which reflected societal turmoil and the need for governmental reform.
The newspaper was popular at its beginning, but after the events of Aug. 11, 1965, it became a major force for social change, and copies of the Freep, as it came to be known, flew off the shelves.
The story was what the L.A. Times and the mainstream media called a riot, and the participants were called criminals. But the Watts rebellion that torpid summer was about racism, inequality and police brutality.
The L.A. Free Press reported, “The Negroes Have Voted.”
It's hard to imagine a self-described mild-mannered person helping to foment and then spearhead such a massive movement for social change, but that's what happened 41 years ago.
“As a result of that story, I was on every talk show in L.A., and my readership jumped to 25,000,” Kunkin said.
Kunkin looks as if he hasn't aged in 40 years. He is trim, and his curly hair is dark. He was clad all in black, from his turtleneck to the sandals on his feet. His sagacious blue eyes and the reddish frames of his glasses provided the only color on his person. His only adornment was a teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from his neck.
In “The Blacklisted Journalist,” Lionel Roth, author of “Art Kunkin: Mystic in Paradise,” called Kunkin a metaphysical guru and the Freep an influential newspaper.
“ Š suddenly the hippie paper was sometimes more influential than the Times. It did so by the simple expedience of telling the truth.”
Kunkin provided several more examples of media malfeasance and political scandal, including a right wing plot to bomb the National Republican Convention and blame it on “radicals.” This nefarious plan was thwarted only after the venue was changed. Soon after, the Watergate scandal erupted.
Two years after the Watts rebellion, an event occurred that exemplified what the Free Press was all about, Kunkin said.
“There was a huge anti-war demonstration during a visit by President Johnson to Century City,” he said. “L.A. Times reporters covered the event, and after they filed their stories they were rewritten by the night editors.”
Kunkin said he saw his role as getting the news out to people at a time when mainstream reporters were being edited.
Even today, he said, the media doesn't do a good job of reporting dissent.
As it happens, Kunkin's presence at the Salon was about more than the past. He also discussed his newly revived L.A. Free Press. The publication is once again reporting dissent, protesting a new war and perhaps leading a new movement. But the new Freep has an added component, a spiritual element that has become an integral part of Kunkin's life.
Kunkin has been studying spiritualism and meditation since the '70s and, as such, he “came to the conclusion that religion is a lot of superstition.” He lives in Joshua Tree on the Mentalphysics grounds, and he's heavily involved with meditation - practicing and teaching. He calls it “simply a meeting that you have with yourself.” Further, Kunkin said he believes in the power of meditation to help change society.
Indeed, the new Freep has not shied away from today's contentious issues and the constant effort to make society better. And it seems current events are woefully similar to the ones of 40 years ago - war, injustice, government abuse, to name a few. But with the rebirth of the L.A. Free Press perhaps we will also see a new movement toward peace and change. In fact, Kunkin believes just such an event will occur.
“By September of this year there will be a peace movement on a scale of which we haven't seen,” he said.
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