Local history, national history

A PPJC Author Event

A Bomb in Every Issue
How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America

With Author
Peter Richardson

The rollicking story of Ramparts—the magazine that captured the zeitgeist of the ’60s, repeatedly scooped the New York Times, brought the new left into American living rooms, and made an indelible imprint on American journalism

"Ramparts was part of the media mud puddle out of which some of the most lively forms of journalism crawled, like gonzo journalism and new journalism. . . . It was rambunctious and clever at a time when journalism had grown stodgy and stale." —Mitch Stephens, author of A History of News

A Bomb in Every Issue tells the largely untold story of the wild ride of this hugely influential magazine that achieved countless firsts: it published the first conspiracy theory about JFK’s assassination, it was the first to reveal that the CIA had backed the National Student Association during the Cold War, and its article about the use of napalm on  Vietnamese children (another first) caused Martin Luther King Jr. to speak out against the war for the first time.

Launched in 1962 as an intellectual Catholic quarterly, within five years Ramparts had become a secular magazine and won a George Polk Award for “its explosive revival of the great muckraking tradition.” Deeply committed to the civil rights and antiwar movements, its contributors included Noam Chomsky, Cesar Chavez, Seymour Hersh, Angela Davis, and Susan Sontag. It was in its pages that Che Guevera’s diaries and the prison diaries of Eldridge Cleaver (which  became Soul on Ice) first appeared. But by 1975, out of money and time, it had folded for good.

Ramparts was “the journalistic equivalent of a rock band,” Richardson argues and, despite its early demise, it left an important journalistic legacy, influencing a generation of reporters and editors, that is still apparent today.

Peter Richardson is the author of American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams. He is the editorial director at PoliPoint Press and the interim chair of the California Studies Association, and teaches courses on California culture at San Francisco State University. He lives in Marin County, California.  Visit Peter's blog.

A Special PPJC Note:  Ramparts magazine was founded by local activist Ed Keating, whose wife Helen was one of the original founders of what is now known as Peninsula Peace and Justice Center.  The Keatings' son, Steve, will be joining us as a special guest at these events.  So come and hear a terrific speaker and help PPJC celebrate a bit of its own history!

Two opportunities to hear Peter Richardson!

A new program from PPJC - "The Brown Bag Series"
We know that many of our older members don't drive at night. So PPJC is introducing a new series of programs - The Brown Bag Series.  Whenever possible, we will present our speaker programs twice - once at lunchtime and again in the evening. Bring your own Brown Bag Lunch and PPJC will provide the beverages.  We're grateful to author Peter Richardson for helping us launch this exciting new program!
Monday, September 21, 12:00 Noon

Fellowship Hall, First Presbyterian Church
1140 Cowper Street, Palo Alto
FREE and open to all - Contributions to PPJC will be requested.
Wheelchair accessible

&

Monday, September 21, 7:30 PM
Fellowship Hall, First Presbyterian Church
1140 Cowper Street, Palo Alto
FREE and open to all - Contributions to PPJC will be requested.
Wheelchair accessible

Presented by
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
www.PeaceandJustice.org  ||  650-326-8837