User:BadgerPriest/Ken Kelley (journalist)
Kenneth M. Kelley (September 24, 1949 – January 13, 2008) was an American journalist and publisher, active in the underground press movement. He founded and edited the underground magazines the Ann Arbor Argus and SunDance, and was a notable interviewer for Playboy magazine.
Ken Kelley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kenneth M. Kelley July 24, 1949 Ann Arbor, MI |
| Died | January 13, 2008 (aged 58) Pleasanton, CA |
| Occupation | journalist, editor, publisher |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| Literary movement | underground press |
| Years active | 1969–1990s |
| Notable works |
|
Early life
[edit]Ken Kelley was born on September 24, 1949, in Ann Arbor[1]. He attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he worked on the student newspaper, the Michigan Daily[2], and was involved in the White Panther Party[3].
Career
[edit]In 1969, Kelley founded the Ann Arbor Argus, which ran until 1971 and reached a circulation of 14,000[4].
In the early 1970s, Kelley moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and, along with Craig Pyes, founded SunDance, an underground magazine funded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono[3].
In 1973, Kelley was a correspondent on Earthquake News, an alternative television news pilot in San Francisco, alongside fellow Berkeley Barb columnists Dancing Bear and Gabrielle Schang.[5]
After SunDance disbanded, Kelley became a regular writer for Playboy, best known for his interviews of notable figures[3]. His most well-known interview was of Anita Bryant in the May 1978 issue, in which she revealed her homophobic and anti-Semitic views[6]. Kelley had traveled with Bryant and her husband for a week and protected her from a pieing incident while conducting the interview[3][7]. The Kelley–Bryant interview is portrayed in the comedic play, Anita Bryant's Playboy Interview, which premiered in 2016 in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.[8] Kelley also interviewed Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Cheech & Chong, Abbie Hoffman, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury, among others, for Playboy.[9]
Kelley won a Maggie Award for his 1987 interview of Lyndon LaRouche for Focus Magazine[10].
Personal life
[edit]In 1971, Kelley was issued a subpoena from a federal grand jury probing the 1971 United States Capitol bombing, and subsequently burned the subpoena during a press conference with Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman[11].
Kelley became interested in the Divine Light Mission in 1973 and wrote about it extensively[12][13]. He started writing a book about the Divine Light Mission entitled Brave New Bliss, but left it unfinished at the time of his death[14].
Kelley was a press aide to Huey P. Newton. After Newton's death, Kelley wrote that Newton had admitted to ordering the murder of Betty Van Patter[15].
Later life and death
[edit]In 2005, Kelley was arrested on pornography charges.[10] While awaiting the outcome of an appeal, he had a heart attack in jail and died on January 13, 2008. In April of 2008, federal prosecutors asked to drop charges against Kelley.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ken Kelley (deceased)". roosevelt67.org. San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Michael, Thoryn; Howard, Kohn (March 23, 1969). "A 100-eyed monster comes alive". Michigan Daily.
- ^ a b c d e Taylor, Michael (22 April 2008). "U.S. would drop porn charges against dead man". SFGate.
- ^ "The underground press: a special report" by John Burks. Rolling Stone, Oct. 4, 1969.
- ^ Pyes, Craig (September 7–13, 1973). "'Earthquake News' to Shake Up Media". Berkeley Barb. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ "What Anita told Playboy about gays, God, and Jews". The Miami News. April 4, 1978.
- ^ Keeper, Charles (April 23, 1978). "Writer Call Miss Bryant Fun-Loving, Exploited". The Palm Beach Post.
- ^ "ANITA BRYANT'S PLAYBOY INTERVIEW". Cavernclubtheater.com. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ "The PlayBoy Interview". www.pseudology.org.
- ^ a b Taylor, Michael (15 February 2005). "SAN FRANCISCO / Writer arrested on federal child-porn charges". SFGate. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Protesters Burn Subpoenas". San Bernandino County Sun. August 17, 1971.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Kelley, Ken (January 19, 1974). "Get Your Red-Hot Panaceas!". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ Kelley, Ken (December 13, 1973). "Blackjack Love". The New York Review of Books.
- ^ "Ken Kelley - Journalist". prem-rawat-bio.org.
- ^ Martinez, Don (August 2, 1991). "Reporter's notes ruling delayed in Newton case". San Francisco Examiner.