FRESH Ayers: Pat Thomas - "DID IT! Jerry Rubin"

“America hasn’t lost its way, just its sense of humor and the sound of Jerry Rubin’s laughter, as captured in Pat Thomas’ excellent book. Thomas’s writing combines a true fan’s enthusiasm and curiosity with an aficionado’s deep knowledge of music, politics and pop culture, not to mention the kind of intellectual’s wiseass skepticism that would have made Lester Bangs a kindred spirit.”—Rex Weiner, author of The Woodstock Census & The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

Pat Thomas discusses DID IT! Jerry Rubin. He will be joined in conversation by Bill Ayers

At the Co-op

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About the book: Did It! From Yippie to Yuppie: Jerry Rubin, an American Revolutionary is an oversized oral & visual history of the infamous and ubiquitous Rubin – the first ever biography of the co-founder of the Yippies, Anti-Vietnam War radical, Chicago 8 defendant, New Age/Self Help proponent, and social-networking pioneer.  

After a surfeit of books about Abbie Hoffman, here’s the first ever biography of his Yippie running mate Jerry Rubin! Based upon over 75 original interviews with his co-conspirators, friends and foes, this book not only explores the life and times of Rubin, but the generation that consisted of idealistic firebrands in the 1960s, segued into the Me generation in the 1970s, and became full blown capitalists engaged in the 1980s. 

Those interviewed include fellow Chicago 8 Defendants, participants in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement; Paul Krassner, Judy Gumbo, Nancy Kurshan, John & Leni Sinclair, Bobby Seale, Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner, Country Joe McDonald and dozens more reveal, in their own words, vibrant stories of the era. Often left out in histories of the radical sixties, twenty women speak out in their own voice! Also chronicled is the 1970’s New Age Movement with commentary from Stella Resnick, Werner Erhard, Mimi Leonard and others. 

Bizarre interactions with luminaries including Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Timothy Leary, and John Lennon are described via interviews and diaries (found in Rubin’s personal archives  and published here for the first time) along with photographs and correspondence with Norman Mailer, Eldridge Cleaver, Mayor Daley and the Weathermen. Also explored is the oft-misunderstood relationship between Rubin and his partner-in-crime Abbie Hoffman with controversial insights into their Yippie vs. Yuppie debates. 

About the author: Pat Thomas is the author of the book Did It! Jerry Rubin: An American Revolutionary an oral & visual history of the infamous and ubiquitous Rubin – the first ever biography of the co-founder of the Yippies, Anti-Vietnam War radical, Chicago 8 defendant, New Age/Self Help proponent, and social-networking pioneer. 

Thomas is also the author of Listen, Whitey! The sights & sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 and the co-curator of Invitation to Openness: The Jazz & Soul Photography of Les McCann 1960-1980 (all three published by Fantagraphics). He has lectured at Hunter College, USC, University of Copenhagen, George Washington University, University of East London and was a consultant to the PBS documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.

About the interlocutors: Bill Ayers is a social justice activist, teacher, Distinguished Professor of Education (retired) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and author of two memoirs, Fugitive Days and Public Enemy.