HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015036.jpg

Paul Krassner published The Realist (1958-2001), but when People magazine labeled him "father of the underground press," he immediately demanded a paternity test. And when Life magazine published a favorable article about him, the FBI sent a poison-pen letter to the editor calling Krassner "a raving, unconfined nut." George Carlin responded, "The FBI was right. This man is dangerous—and funny; and necessary." While abortion was illegal, Krassner ran an underground referral service, and as an antiwar activist, he became a co-founder of the Yippies (Youth International Party). Krassner's one-person show won an award from the L.A. Weekly. He received an ACLU (Upton Sinclair) Award for dedication to freedom of expression. At the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, he was inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame — "my ambition," he claims, "since I was three years old." He' s won awards from Playboy, the Feminist Party Media Workshop, and in 2010 the Oakland branch of the writers organization PEN honored him with their Lifetime Achievement Award. "I' m very happy to receive this award," he concluded in his acceptance speech, "and even happier that it wasn' t posthumous."-- paulkrassner.com

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015036