Hinckle, Warren. If You Have a Lemon, Make Lemonade. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990. 370 pages. First published in 1974.
In 1961, when he came aboard the new Catholic magazine Ramparts, young San Franciscan Warren Hinckle was already a veteran newshound -- as well as a hardened parochial-school survivor not burdened with overly romantic ideas about the Church. But given that time and place, Hinckle wasn't destined to spend the next decade writing about liturgical reform. Instead, as Hinckle chronicles in this take-no-prisoners memoir, Ramparts unexpectedly became the leading magazine of the U.S. New Left, and broke one mind-bending investigative story after another. Cardinal Spellman and the pro-Diem lobby that greased U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Training in torture for U.S. Special Forces. The CIA's use of Michigan State University as a front for training Diem's secret police. The squeaky-clean National Student Association as a CIA cutout. The philanthropic J.M. Kaplan Fund ditto. Hinckle also gave an important early boost to critics of the Warren Commission -- although he spells out their frequent excesses in the same gleeful detail that he does his own. By the dawning of the 70s, Hinckle's bet-the-rent managerial style, plus the changing times, had finished off Ramparts. Hinckle himself, fortunately, is still with us. -- Steve Badrich
Heidenry, John. Theirs Was the Kingdom: Lila and DeWitt Wallace and the Story of the Reader's Digest. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993. 701 pages.
Reader's Digest founder DeWitt Wallace made a fortune by correctly estimating the American consumer and offering his reprinted pablum through direct-mail campaigns. More than just a magazine, Reader's Digest was a phenomenon that mirrored middle-class culture and values. By now Reader's Digest is laying off employees -- another sign, perhaps, that the American middle class is on its way out. At its peak, the Digest had a circulation of 18 million; only the Bible did better. Not to be outdone, in 1982 the Digest even tried to market a condensed version of the Bible.![[Cartoon]](http://www.namebase.org/gifs/puppet.gif)
The Digest empire, particularly through its Washington bureau, was a major outlet for Cold War propaganda and had significant connections to the U.S. intelligence community. Author John Heidenry does an excellent job of ferreting out these connections, even though this accounts for less than one-sixth of the book. The remainder of this comprehensive account revolves around the private and public lives of Lila and DeWitt Wallace, and the handful of fawning executives who ran the office in Pleasantville, New York beginning in the 1920s. From these offices, the empire grew to become the world's most successful publisher of magazines, and the largest global marketer of books.
Swanberg, W.A. Luce and His Empire. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972. 529 pages.
Henry Robinson Luce co-founded Time magazine in 1923, and remained the autocratic owner of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated until his death in 1967. His parents were missionaries in China; when Henry was two years old, they barely escaped the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, when over 200 missionaries and their children, along with 30,000 Chinese converts, were killed. While Henry did not grow up to be religious, he was stubbornly ideological, adopting the "white man's burden" orientation of his parents.Even after the corrupt Chinese Nationalists slaughtered 20,000 Taiwanese in order to create a base after fleeing from Mao, Luce continued to plug Chiang Kai-shek as a hero on many covers of Time. Clare Boothe Luce, a Congresswoman and later ambassador to Italy, shared her husband's anti- communism. Between them, they had so much power that even presidents such as Lyndon Johnson had to be careful. Biographer Swanberg feels that the Luce press was somewhat responsible for the Cold War, from Chiang through Vietnam. This may be more true than Swanberg realizes: C.D. Jackson, who published Life for Luce, was simultaneously a psychological warfare expert for U.S. intelligence (his name also pops up in JFK assassination books). But the CIA connection is not pursued by Swanberg, perhaps because this book appeared too early, before many misdeeds were revealed in the 1970s.
Thomas, Kenn (ed). Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader. Lilburn, GA: IllumiNet Press, 1995. 343 pages.
This is an anthology of issues four through eleven of Steamshovel Press, plus an extra "phantom" issue. Kenn Thomas, the man behind the shovel, works out of St. Louis, Missouri. He's a gonzo editor with a penchant for mining the depths of New Age conspiracism, beat literature, Wilhelm Reich, UFOs, and assassination theory. If presented with a choice between the outright bizarre, on the one hand, and dull, cautious, footnoted research on the other hand, Thomas prefers the former.Nevertheless, the occasional nugget stays in the pan. Particularly informative are his interviews with Jack Hoffman (Abbie's brother), Deborah Davis, Mark Lane, Kerry Thornley, Jim Marrs, Dick Gregory, Jonathan Vankin, Robert Anton Wilson, John Judge, Carl Oglesby, A.J. Weberman, Allen Ginsberg, David Dellinger, David Emory, and Sherman Skolnick. The book reviews are more mixed: some are helpful, but others treat titles that are insanely obscure, almost kinky. Steamshovel Press sees itself as a serious magazine, even if one suspects that Thomas sometimes has a laugh at our expense. If you like some "X Files" paranormality mixed in with your "Octopus" theories, you could do a lot worse.
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABBOTT ROY ACHESON BARCLAY ACHESON DEAN G ALEXANDER ROY ALLEN JOHN (BIOSPHERE 2) ALLEN JOHN (READERS DIGEST) ALLYN STANLEY C ANDREAS DWAYNE ORVILLE ANGLETON JAMES JESUS ANSON ROBERT SAM ARNOLD JON (CONSPIRACY UPDATE) BAGDIKIAN BEN HAIG BAILEY WESLEY L BANCROFT MARY BARKHAM JOHN BARRON JOHN (AUTHOR) BEAL JOHN R BEAVERBROOK MAX (LORD) BENET STEPHEN VINCENT BENSKY LARRY BENTON WILLIAM (D-CT) BERLET CHIP BERNAYS EDWARD L BERWICK ADRIAN BEVEL JAMES BILLINGS JOHN SHAW BIOSPHERE 2 BITOV OLEG G BOROSON WARREN BOWEN ROBERT O BOWLES CHESTER BRACKEN LEN BRADLEE BENJAMIN C BRAMLEY WILLIAM BRUCE LENNY BRUSSELL MAE BRZEZINSKI ZBIGNIEW BUCK PEARL S BUCKLEY WILLIAM F JR BULLITT WILLIAM CHRISTIAN BURROUGHS WILLIAM S BUSH GEORGE H.W. BYRNE PETER (TOM SLICK AIDE) CARDENAS EDUARDO CARROLL GERALD A CARUANA STEPHANIE CASOLARO JOSEPH DANIEL CASTANEDA CARLOS CHAMBERS WHITTAKER CHIANG KAI-SHEK CHOMSKY NOAM CLURMAN RICHARD M COLE ALBERT LESLIE COLLIER JAMES M COMMISSION INQUIRY FREEDOM PRESS COMMITTEE OPEN ARCHIVES COON CARLETON STEVENS SR COOPER MILTON WILLIAM CORRALES SCOTT COULIANO IOAN COUSINS NORMAN CROSS WILLIAM J CULLIGAN ROLAND BERNARD (BUD) DASHIELL ALFRED S (FRITZ) DAVENPORT RUSSELL WHEELER DAVIS DEBORAH DE LYROT ALAIN DE PUGH ROBERT BOLIVAR DEBRAY REGIS DELLINGER DAVID DELPHI ASSOCIATES (HERMOSA BEACH CA) DICK PHILIP K DIEM NGO DINH DONOVAN HEDLEY W DOOLEY THOMAS A DUDLEY PENDLETON DULLES JOHN FOSTER DUNCAN DAVID DOUGLAS DUNCAN DONALD W DYLAN BOB EASTMAN MAX ECKER DON EMORY DAVID EPSTEIN EDWARD JAY FAREWELL AMERICA FEIGEN GERRY FERGUSON CHARLES W FERRIE DAVID WILLIAM FISHEL WESLEY R FISHER STERLING FITZGERALD DESMOND FLEMMING ARTHUR S FORTUNE MAGAZINE FRANCO FRANCISCO (GEN) FREEMASONRY FRIEDMAN STANTON T FROMM ERICH FUERBRINGER OTTO FUOSS ROBERT FURTH ALBERT L GARGAN JOSEPH F GARRISON JIM (NEW ORLEANS) GEHLEN REINHARD GEISMAR MAXWELL GIBBS WOLCOTT GILMORE KENNETH O GINSBERG ALLEN GLEASON RALPH J GOLDSBOROUGH LAIRD S GOSSAGE HOWARD GOTTFRIED MANFRED GRAEBNER WALTER GRAHAM KATHARINE GREGORY DICK (ACTIVIST) GRIFFIN JOHN HOWARD (B.1920) GRIFFITH THOMAS GROSSMAN GORDON GROVER ALLEN GRUNE GEORGE V GUEVARA ERNESTO CHE GUZZARDI WALTER JR HADDEN BRITON HALBERSTAM DAVID HALEY ALEX HANSSON LARS HARD WILLIAM SR HARRIMAN W AVERELL HECHT BEN HELM HAROLD H HEPLER CHARLES HERSEY JOHN R HIBBS BEN HIGH STANLEY HINCKLE WARREN HISS ALGER HITESMAN WALTER J HOBSON LAURA Z HOCHHUTH ROLF HODGINS ERIC HOFFMAN ABBIE HOFFMAN JACK (BROTHER OF ABBIE) HOFFMAN MICHAEL A HOFFMAN PAUL GRAY HOTCHKISS JOE (READERS DIGEST) HOWLAND WILLIAM (TIME MAGAZINE) HUBBARD L RON HUGHES EMMET JOHN HUGHES HOWARD R HUNT E HOWARD HUNTER EDWARD S HURT HENRY H HUTCHINS ROBERT MAYNARD ILLUMINATI INGERSOLL RALPH MCALLISTER JACKSON CHARLES DOUGLAS JACOBY ANNALEE JAFFE STEVE JAMES SIDNEY JONES PENN JR JUDD WALTER H (R-MN) JUDGE JOHN KANGAS PAUL KAPLAN JACOB MERRILL KASTNER JOSEPH KEATING EDWARD M (RAMPARTS) KEEL JOHN KEITH JIM KENNEDY EDWARD M (D-MA) KENNEDY JOSEPH PATRICK KIMSEY JOHN KOESTLER ARTHUR KOPKIND ANDREW KUNG HSIANG-HSI LAIRD MELVIN R LAMONT THOMAS W LANE MARK LANSDALE EDWARD GEARY LARSEN ROY E LATTIMORE OWEN LAZAR ROBERT SCOTT LEAR JOHN LEARY TIMOTHY LEE BRUCE LESAR JAMES H LEWIS HOBART DURKIN LIFE MAGAZINE LINDBERGH CHARLES A JR LISKER ROY LITTLE ANGELS KOREAN FOLK BALLET LITVINOV MAXIM LONGWELL DANIEL LORIMER GEORGE HORACE LOWES MARVIN LUCE CLARE BOOTHE LUCE HENRY III (HANK) LUCE HENRY ROBINSON LUKAS J ANTHONY LYNCH HAROLD A LYNN CONRAD LYTTLE THOMAS MACARTHUR DOUGLAS (GEN) MACDONALD DWIGHT MACLEISH ARCHIBALD MACRAE CUYLER MAHONY WALTER B JR (BUN) MARKHAM PAUL MARRS JIM MARTIN JIM (FLATLAND) MATTHEWS T.S. (TIME MAGAZINE) MCCARTHY JOSEPH R MCCORMICK CYRUS HALL (MRS) MCEVOY DENNIS MCGILL RALPH MCHENRY WILLIAM BARNABAS MCINTIRE CARL MCINTYRE JAMES FRANCIS CARDINAL MCLOUGHLIN RICHARD F MENZEL DONALD H METHVIN EUGENE H MEYER MARY PINCHOT MICHENER JAMES A MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MILLER JIM (READERS DIGEST) MINUTEMEN MITCHELL FREDERICK MITFORD JESSICA MOHR CHARLES MONAHAN JAMES (READERS DIGEST) MONTGOMERY ED MOORE WILLIAM L MORANO ALBERT P MORGAN BARBARA J MORGAN HARRY (READERS DIGEST) MORSE WAYNE (D-OR) MORTON SEAN MURPHY CHARLES J.V. MUSSOLINI BENITO NATION MAGAZINE NATIONAL COUNCIL CHURCHES NATIONAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION NICHOLS ROBERT BOOTH NIXON RICHARD MILHOUS NOSENKO YURI I NOTESTEIN LUCY NOVEL GORDON OGLESBY CARL OHARA JOHN A ONASSIS ARISTOTLE ONEILL TIMOTHY J (ATHANOR INSTITUTE) OSBORNE JOHN OURSLER FULTON JR (TONY) PALMER PAUL (READERS DIGEST) PANITZA JOHN (DIMI) PARFREY ADAM PAUVERT JEAN JACQUES PAYNE KENNETH W PEALE NORMAN VINCENT PEGLER WESTBROOK PITKIN HORACE TRACY POSNER GERALD POUND EZRA PROUTY L FLETCHER QUIGLEY CARROLL RAE NOEL RAGSDALE MAURICE T RAMPARTS MAGAZINE RAY MICHELE READERS DIGEST REBOZO CHARLES G (BEBE) REICH WILHELM RICONOSCIUTO MICHAEL JAMES RISLEY DOLORES ROBERTS BRUCE ROBERTSON WALTER S ROBINSON HENRY MORTON ROCKEFELLER LAURANCE SPELMAN ROCKEFELLER NELSON ALDRICH ROPER ELMO BURNS ROSICRUCIANISM ROSS HAROLD RUSK DEAN RUSSELL DICK (JFK RESEARCHER) RUSSO GUS G SANGER MARGARET SCHEER ROBERT SCHLAMM WILLIAM S SCHOENMAN RALPH SCHULZ WILLIAM (READERS DIGEST) SCIENTOLOGY SEAGAL STEVEN SELDES GEORGE SELZNICK DAVID O SEVERINGHAUS LESLIE R SHEEN FULTON J SHEINBAUM STANLEY K SHEPLEY JAMES R SHEVCHENKO ARKADY N SKOLNICK SHERMAN SLICK AIRWAYS SLICK THOMAS BAKER SOONG MAYLING SOONG T V SPELLMAN FRANCIS CARDINAL ST.GEORGE ANDREW STEFFENS LINCOLN STEIN SOL STERLING CLAIRE STEVENSON CHUCK (READERS DIGEST) STONE MARC STUART JOHN LEIGHTON STURGIS FRANK A SUDLER CULBRETH SULZBERGER CYRUS LEO THOMAS KENN THOMPSON DOROTHY THOMPSON EDWARD T THOMPSON FRED L THOMPSON PAUL W THORNLEY KERRY WENDELL TIME MAGAZINE TIME-LIFE CORPORATION TOMLINSON KENNETH Y TURNER WILLIAM W UNITED CHINA RELIEF VALLEE JACQUES (ASTROPHYSICIST) VANDENBERG ARTHUR H VINCENT JOHN CARTER WACKENHUT CORPORATION WALLACE DEWITT WALLACE LILA ACHESON WASHINGTON POST WATERS RICHARD WEBERMAN ALAN J WEINTZ WALTER WEISS STANLEY (RAMPARTS) WHITE THEODORE H WILCOX HARRY WILDER THORNTON WILLIAMS EDWARD BENNETT WILLKIE WENDELL SR WILSON ROBERT ANTON WOOLLCOTT ALEXANDER WORLD PRESS INSTITUTE ZINSSER JOHN S JR ZION SIDNEY
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