BARNEY BUBBLES BOOK LAUNCH EXCLUSIVE

The Generalist was in London last night, attending the book launch of 'Reasons to be Cheerful: The life and Works of Barney Bubbles' by Paul Gorman, held at Paul Smith's shop on Park Road, just off Borough Market. A lively crowd overwhelmed the small shop premises, vol au vents and beer were in short supply as a result, but the energy and importance of the event were evident.

These exclusive pictures show (from top): boss designers Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett, who contributed an excellent Essay and Foreword to the book, come to pay their respects to Barney, who influenced them both; Paul Gorman saying a few words to the assembled throng; the publisher of the book Jenny Ross (centre), whose publishing company Adelita funded and produced the book; Jake Riviera with his wife Lauri and legendary dj Jeff Dexter; and the best hat in the room, crowning the head of Nigel Proktor, currently handling the Magazine renuion (see Previous Post).








































It has taken some twenty years - almost thirty years - since his death in 1983, for the self-effacing Barney Bubbles and his exuberant and prolific talent to be rediscovered and celebrated.

A total inspiration to several generations of graphic designers, illustrators, artists and musicians alike, Barney's best known work stretches from the pages of OZ and Friends magazine in the 1960s/1970s, through the creation of a powerful visual style for Hawkwind, numerous albums for Stiff (including Ian Drury's best and the Blockheads iconic logo) and the whole look and feel of Radar Records, including all the most memorable Evis Costello album covers and press campaigns - all of which is the tip of a much larger iceberg as this book demonstrates.

For those of us who knew him, this launch was a happy day that one thought would never happen. Like so many other talented outsiders, unwilling to play the establishment games, Barney was never recognised in his lifetime by the powers that be in the art and graphics world, and it has taken a number of dedicated individuals who were fans and deeply influenced by him - special mention here should be made of Rebecca and Mike - to institute and nurture a process that has led to this extremely fine and timely book.

Paul Gorman, whose excellent previous books include 'The Look' (one of the seminal works on rock and pop fashion) and 'In Their Own Write (an oral history of the music press), has thoroughly and scrupulously documented Barney's life and times in this new publication which should stand for many years as the seminal work.

For those of us who knew him, the book will bring back memories of the impish delight Barney took in his friends and colleagues, his electric enthusiasm for his work, his constant innvovations and unending search for the new and above all his inspiring and fun-filled presence. For those coming fresh to his work, particularly young artists, illustrators and graphic designers, they will find a huge source of inspiration and marvel at the effort and industry involved in achieving many of his finest artworks in that pre-digital, hands-on age of yore.

For much more on Barney see 'Barney Bubbles? What a laugh' - The history of Barney Bubbles, as told by a friend, David Wills. Beautiful stuff.

COMING SOON: An exclusive interview with Paul Gorman on the story behind the book.

See: 'Brains Behind Antony Price's Return' on the Dazed Digital site.

UPDATE: Excellent piece by Dylan Jones in The Independent entitled 'At heart, Barney Bubbles was an artist –which led to the creative strain he put himself under'

3-D CINEMA BOOM

Source: www.dobrekino.pl/index_eng.html

Browing through the Hollwyood Reporter site at random last night, as you do, interested to learn that we are on the edge of a 3-D movie revolution.

"In five to seven years, all films, regardless of budgets or type, will be made in 3-D," says Jeffrey Katzenberg, the DreamWorks Animation boss during his keynote at the inaugural 3DX Film and Entertainment Technology Festival in Singapore, which opened today. "3-D is how we see, how we take things in. It's natural," Katzenberg said. "This is not a gimmick, it's an opportunity to immerse the audience, to heighten the experience." He added that the migration to 3-D will happen on all screens, including mobile phones and laptops. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group president Mark Zoradi and others are stressing the industry's commitment to 3-D as the future of film.

Producer John Landau, now working with James Cameron on "Avatar," said that 3-D would "do for cinema what stereo did for the audio industry." All the film industry has to do is "demystify" 3-D for consumers, whose perception of 3-D may be of "gimmicks on B films" and "theme parks that forced things off the screen," Landau said.

Disney plans to release 11 3-D movies in 2009-10, with another six to come in 2011 - more than 50% of all 3-D releases during the next three years, 11 of those would be animated.

All apeakers agreed that 3-D's ability to immerse audiences in the film is the key and new 3-D benefits from a range of technical advances that make it box-office gold - although the
installed base of digital cinemas is the biggest barrier to achieving a mass market.

The IMAX projection and film making system suffered from similar problems in their earlier years Imax is now converting hundreds of its auditoriums to digital projection in a transition to digital 3-D exhibition.

See: 'Katzenberg: 3-D Vision Goes Beyond Animation' by Janine Stein.

Bankers at JPMorgan are preparing to raise debt of about $1bn to fund the installation of digital systems in up to 20,000 North American cinema screens,' says Financial Times Deutschland' reporter Matthew Garrahan. There are about 1,300 3-D screens in the US at the moment.

'The cost - about $70,000 per screen - will initially be borne by the US cinema chains that are part of the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners consortium, which has enlisted JPMorgan to raise the money. '

If successful, this 'will become a turning point in the entertainment industry because it will pave the way for the mass adoption of 3-D cinema, a consistent crowd-puller.'

'Katzenberg predicts there will 2,500-3,000 3-D screens in the US by the end of 2009. When 'Shrek Goes Fourth' is released in summer 2010, he expects there to be 7,500 US 3-D screens. By then, up to 85 per cent of the company's US ticket sales will come from 3-D screens, he says.

'The studios are confident the financing will succeed and trigger a transformation which some say will be as profound as the addition of sound in the 1920s and the introduction of colour in the 1950s.

One of the key films of this new revolution will come in early 2010 with Avatar, a live-action 3-D film from James Cameron, which will cost $220m+.

All DreamWorks Animation films will be released in 3-D starting next March with Monsters vs Aliens .

Source: 'Viewing revolution poised to hit the big screen'

DAYTROTTER MUSIC HEAVEN

So my neighbour Martin was out in the street painting the front of his house with a small brush and a tin of paint and we started talking about music, as we always do, starting with Bob Dylan and Tom Paine, when he told me about this new site that he'd become addicted to called www.daytrotter.com

This site is a thing of beauty on a number of levels. Basically these guys have a studio in downtown Rock Island, Illinois and as musicians pass through town they get them into their studio to record live sessions, using the instruments and equipment on hand, and then they put them on their site for free listening and download. What you have here is a wonderful cross-section of current American sounds, virtually every set full of interest and surprises. Perhaps this would be enough on its own but there is more. Firstly, every artist is portrayed with an illustration, produced by a whole slew of talented artsist whose work the site features. Then there's the writing. Each artist's work is described in some detail, in a style and in a way that is fresh, original, poetic, uncliched and endearing. Pictured above (for left to right) are Shugo Tokumaru, Wire and The Envy Corps. All beautiful stuff. Enjoy and spread the word. Inspiring.

ARCHIVE: THE MAGNUM/GREENPEACE PROJECT

I always jokingly say that one of my main claims to fame is that I bought Al Gore lunch. I have written extensively on this in a Previous Post (I Bought Al Gore Lunch: Real As Rain) and the audio version of the interview is available on The Audio Generalist, so that you can also actually hear Gore having his lunch!

Another equally important claim would be that I had lunch with Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris - a day I shall never forget.

What follows is a brief version of a much longer story, concerning a joint book project between Magnum Photos and Greenpeace in which is was heavily involved. Have recently catalogued all the notes, correspondence, diary entries and other material related to what would have been an extraordinary book.

'State of the World/Soul of the Planet' was the title of what was to be a large format photobook featuring the work of a huge number of stellar Magnum photographers, combined with quotes and texts from leading world writers, statesmen. artists and the like, designed to raise funds for Greenpeace and to create a broader awareness of the issues they were tackling.

The idea came first in a letter (7 Nov 1990) from Chris Boot who hatched the basic project in conjunction with Myron Blumenthal, a lawyer whose clients at the time included Greta Scacchi and Maeve Binchy and who had previously worked with Greenpeace on the Rainbow Warrior album (another whole story to be told). Chris had been making photo-books and producing photography exhibitions and events since the mid-1980s, became Director of Magnum Photos, later Editorial Director, Photography at Phaidon Press and is now an independent publisher of photobooks.

As Editorial Director of Greenpeace Books I was soon drafted onto the project and had my first meeting with Magnum on 2th Feb 1991. Sometime in March, the late David McTaggart, then Chairman of Greenpeace International, was with me for a meeting with Magnum at which the legendary Eve Arnold (probably most famous for her Marilyn Monroe pictues) was present. I had to meet with her and others on March 19th to outline my ideas for the book. My diary notes describe the meeting as 'nerve wracking.'

[At this point, it is worth noting that both organisations were complecx. Magnum, an association of some of the world's top photographers had its own internal politics, as did Greenpeace, which by that time had offices around the globe, all of whom would have to be consulted on the project. A diary note, shortly after the meeting above, reads: ' Private out-of-office meeting with Neil to inform him of internal political problems.']

On 17th May I met Thomas Hoepker who had been appointed by Magnum as the main editor of the book. On 27th May I attended the annual Magnum party, on the night of a full moon, where
Sebastião Salgado and Elliott Erwitt were in attendance amongst others, and I met the wonderful and charming man René Burri , who, I recorded in my journal, 'told me to hold on to my vision and not to let anyone distract me.'

On July 1st came a summit meeting between the two sides, with amongst others, Chris Steele Perkins and Leonard Freed (who died in 2006) in attendance. Note says: 'We now need to move to presentation.'

By 11 July I was in Paris for discussions with the Magnum office there. Six days later came further meetings then went off with René Burri to La Défense on the edge of Paris, which he was documenting. He also took pictures of me. Back at the Magnum office met Leonard Freed again, Joseph Koudelka and Miguel Rio Branco. My notes say:' The four of us had a long conversation.'

The following day was the red letter one. The day I went for lunch with Cartier-Bresson, to whom I had to pitch the project. With him on-board, the whole thing could move forward. At the table were Martine Franck, René Burri , and Dianne from the Magnum office. As I remember it the office was in a fairly rough part of Paris. My brief notes read as follows:

'HCB: Indefatigable. Striding ahead of us down the street. His little rucksack on his back with a Smiling Sun 'Non-Nuclear' button attached to it. Dressed in fawns and browns. Windcheater. Scarf fastened at the neck with a toggle or brooch. Little wire glasses. Bright eyes. Just had an operation for a cataract on one eye. Saw beautiful colours he tells us.' He was 83 at the time.

I was more than a little nervous as I sat down at the table in the small Chinese restaurant opposite the great man. I remember he order a Sichuan beer and as he tasted it he said it took him back to his days in China. The meal progressed amiably until the time came to deliver my proposal for the book. I looked into his eyes and launched into my presentation. When I finished their was a brief pause, HCB lost in thought. Then he finally said: "We are the horses, you are holding the reins."

I was taken aback by this remark, nodding with a smile on my face whilst my brain raced to try and work out whether that was good or bad, what such a phrase meant and what the implications were. Then, my notes say, he said: "You must work closely with us." Notes says he was 'charming but stern'. We discussed schedules and costs. I had succeeded. Later HCB announced that he would come out of retirement (at that time he had given up photography in favour of drawing) to work on the book. What a coup.

Just to make the day more magical, René Burri drove me and his young assistant from the restaurant to La Défense where, we walked to the grand arch, took a lift to the roof, showed our special passes and stepped out beyond the security barriers. Literally the whole of Paris was there stretched out at my feet. I felt like a king of the world. My journal says: 'These notes are written literally on the edge of La Défense arch.'

Later that night I had supper with René and Clothilde - the most beautiful apartment and gorgeous food - whilst we listened to John Surman and he told me many a story which I will save for another time. One detail here is relevant. Notes say: 'Tells me of his long love-hate relationship with Henri. How at one of the Magnum meetings, he had arrived late after a helicopter ride across New York. Henri kicked him in the butt; René held him out of the window.'

It would be great to say that this story had a happy ending. I have the fax sent to me on Sept 17th 1991, addressed to Eve Arnold, myself and Neil Burgess at Magnum, from Thomas Hoepker, recounting the four meetings that he and David McTaggart has with US publishers in New York - with Sonny Mehta at Knopf, with Meirs at Norton, with Linda Tabori at Collins and at Doubleday [at the latter meeeting Jackie Kennedy/Onassis was present.

The upshot was a big No. The project was expensive, the market was low, the book didn't fly. An great opportunity missed but an experience I will never forget.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, still considered one of the greatest if not the greatest photographer, a founder of modern photojournalism and the highly influential style of 'street photography' he mastered, died on August 3rd 2004.

GREEN PUBLISHING AND THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK

[Top] E-book device from www.promwad.com/markets/e-book-concept-design.html. Used to illustrate essay on 'The main goals of e-books' on excellent blog Knightsbridge (Spanish Blood, English Heart).

[Below] Photo by Kevin Rosseel, accompanying an essay by
Lindley Homol enitled 'Green Publishing' on www.writersnewsweekly.com

This post was triggered by interesting piece by Charles Arthur entitled 'Rewriting the book on profitable publishing' in The Technology Guardian, profiling the US-based print-on-demand company Blurb (already mentioned in Previous Posting THE GODDESS). For someone like myself, who has spent a lifetime producing illustrated books, the possibility of being able to make fine-quality full-colour books in this manner is very exciting indeed. Fully intending now to work on a project using Blurb and will report back progress and results.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this new publishing model is its environmental impact - a fraction of conventional publishing practices which are, by and large, extremely wasteful. Blurb's founder Eileen Gittins as this to say: "The public has no idea how many books are printed." Says Arthur, 'the ones you see in the shops are only the tip of the iceberg; hundreds and thousands more are printed and then pulped. With Blurb, books are only printed when someone clicks to buy them on the company's site: zero waste.'

The environment is a big issue in contemporary publishing which is why OPUS (the Oxford Publishing Society) hosted an event at Oxford Brookes University on 2nd October 2008 to discuss the issues. Marie Hanson reports:

'Edward Milford, Chairman of Earthscan, opened his speech ‘Greening our Publishing' with the provocative question "Is it possible?" He raised key issues such as the sustainability of the ‘green' process, and identified it as an industry-wide problem, which cannot be solved by individual companies working in isolation

'Earthscan aims to offset all their CO2 emissions, and have identified that 84% of these come from the paper itself. Roughly translated, a 400g book equals c2kg CO2, the same as traveling 10 km in a typical car, or two uses of a tumble dryer. The remaining percentage comes from travel, freight and office use, and Edward explored how these emissions could be reduced, or offset.

'The second speaker, Carol Richmond of Wiley-Blackwell, concentrated her talk more specifically on how to reduce the impact of paper usage on our environment. Publishing houses should work to address paper wastage, as at the moment US print runs are commonly 40% too long. The rise of print-on-demand may have an impact on this, and some publishing houses are already beginning to introduce shorter print runs, which not only reduces waste, but saves on storage costs. She also suggested that paper sourcing should be a top priority for all publishing houses, and highlighted the damage that over-farming does to the environment, with the most visible harm being in Indonesia. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) are the two leading companies attempting to combat illegal ‘fiber farming' and to encourage ethical paper sourcing. Currently 7% of the world's forests are certified by the two. Perhaps because of this initiative paper is becoming more expensive, with a 20-30% rise in cost this year alone. A way to combat this would be to make more use of recycled paper. So in order to keep our industry green, and save our planet, recycled loo roll is the way forward!'

See also:

green4books (an organisation, funded by the UK Publishers Association and Booksellers Association whose aim is to promote environmental awareness across the book industry

The Green Press Initiative ( a US based organisation whose Mission is 'to work with book and newspaper industry stakeholders to conserve natural resources, preserve endangered forests, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize impacts on indigenous communities.'

Their website claims that: 'Each year, approximately 30 million trees are used to make books sold in the United States—1,153 times the number of trees in New York City’s Central Park. Many of these trees are sourced from endangered forests with devastating impacts on the people and wildlife that rely on them. The good news is that the book industry is rapidly implementing practices that minimize negative social and environmental impacts. Over 160 publishers, representing about 40% of the book industry’s market share, have either developed strong environmental policies, or signed the industry-generate treatise on responsible paper use.'

Although I cannot find it in the Archives, I am happy to say that when I was running Greenpeace Books back in the 1980s, we played a small but significant pioneering role in producing a booklet entitled 'The Greenpeace Guide to Paper'. This was produced in consultation with Canadian and other toxic campaigners as was virtually the first such publication to be poroduced. At that time, chlorine bleaching was common in the industry; it has now, I believe been virtually completely phased out, a huge environmental plus. Greenpeace Books was mandated by the organisation to use the most environmentally-friendly papers available in all our books and we were amongst the first in Britain to use such papers, which were only just beginning to come onto the market.

Previous posts on Greenpeace Books:
BBC REVEAL LOST NUKE IN GREENLAND 1968
DOLPHINS REVISITED
GREENPEACE: THE RETURN TO AMCHITKA
ANTARCTIC DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

Greenpeace International's website has details of The Greenpeace Book Campaign which 'aims to 'green' the book publishing industry, who are currently printing the majority of their books on virgin (non-recycled) paper linked to ancient forest destruction in countries such as Finland and Canada. Book publishers are also printing children's and colour books in South East Asia, which could be linked to rainforest destruction in Indonesia. This campaign has already been very successful in Canada where Markets Initiative (a coalition project of Greenpeace Canada and other environmental groups) has worked with book publishers since 2000. Over 72 leading Canadian publishers, including Random House Canada and Penguin Canada have made formal commitments to use only 'Ancient Forest Friendly' book papers.' [This entry is not dated and it is not clear whether this campaign is still in operation.]

As to the future of the book in a world of electronic publishing, there is a large literature out there on the subject. Its a fascinating topic. Here are some interesting books and papers:

Books in the Digital Age: The Transformation of Academic and Higher Education Publishing in Britain and the United States by John B. Thompson [2005]

'The book publishing industry is going through a period of profound and turbulent change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of the book in an age preoccupied with computers and the internet? How has the book publishing industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future?

'This is the first major study of the book publishing industry in Britain and the United States for more than two decades. Thompson focuses on academic and higher education publishing and analyses the evolution of these sectors from 1980 to the present. He shows that each sector is characterized by its own distinctive ‘logic’ or dynamic of change, and that by reconstructing this logic we can understand the problems, challenges and opportunities faced by publishing firms today. He also shows that the digital revolution has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the book publishing business, although the real impact of this revolution has little to do with the e-book scenarios imagined by many commentators.'

Electronic Publishing and the future of the book by Prof Tom Wilson (dated 1997)

The Future of the Book by Geoffrey Nunberg (Editor). This 1996 work consists of 11 scholarly papers by mostly academics presented at a recent conference. Contributors include Nunberg, Carla Hesse, James O'Donnell, Paul Duguid, Nunberg, Regis Debray, and Patrick Brazin. The presenters take a variety of approaches to the ways, rates, and degrees to which the computer might kill the book., e.g., historical, philosophical, and inguistic. No author rejects computers or sees their takeover as complete and immediate.

Umberto Eco's essay from this collection is reproduced on the wonderful site The Modern Word

See also Previous Posts:
THE END OF PAPER ?
MANGUEL AND BORGES
(concerning Alberto Manguel's brilliant book on the History of Reading)

THOMAS PAINE DAY USA

The frontispiece and Title Page of an Address given by A. Outram Sherman at the opening of the Paine House, July 14th, 1910. Delivered before the Huguenot Society of New Rochelle, N.Y., who were responsible for the building's survival. [The Generalist Archive].

The Thomas Paine Cottage is where Paine spent most of the last seven years of his life; he actually died at 59 Grove Street, Greenwich Village, New York on June 8th 1809, aged 72.

The building was saved by the Huguenot Society, who purchased a section of Tom Paine's farm and moved the cottage, which had been gifted to them, to the new site where it stands today in its renovated form. The Tom Paine Monument is nearby. Further details at the Thomas Paine Cottage site. [Photo: Thomas Paine National Historical Association]

Delighted to learn, via The Economist that an effort is underway to institute a Thomas Paine Day in all 50 states of America before the 200th anniversary of his death on the 8th June 2009.

As regular readers of The Generalist will know, Paine is an important figure in my canon of greats. I live in a town (Lewes, East Sussex, England) where he once lived, I helped refound the Headstrong Club (of which he was the most vociferous member), helped plant a 'Tree of Liberty' in his honour, created the first website dedicated to him (Paine in the Net, now sadly defunct), which was launched at the British Houses of Parliament (the first ever event held in his honour in That Place).

The full story of this can be found in a Previous Posting at TOM PAINE IN LEWES, which has been substantially rewritten and illustrated. It also includes items of Paine's links with William Blake and Bob Dylan and details of Tom Paine's book in Tibetan.

I have always been puzzled as to the standing of Paine in America. He died in poverty, a forgotten man. His bones were dug up by William Cobbett and spirited back to England. The Founding Fathers of the American Revolution are rightly revered and celebrated but Paine, an Englishman, remains to many Americans a little-known figure despite his key role in that struggle. John Adams famously said: 'Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.' On the eve of this important Paine bicentenary, in Obama's America, will he finally be celebrated in a way commensurate with his importance to American history. We will be following this story with great interest.

Here is the status so far:

Arkansas: In 2007, legislator Lindsley Smith attempted to establish a TP Day in her state. She needed 51 votes for her Bill to pass. In the event, 46 supported her, 20 opposed and 34 legislators didn't vote at all (probably, says the Economist, because they had no idea who Paine was.)

This, and other such comments, received an angry rebuttal from Mac Campbell, in a defense of the Arkansas legislature entitled Paine Threshold.)

Democrat Anderson will try again in January, meantime engaging in an exercise to educate both public and politicians as to Paine's importance and achievements.

Nine states have so far passed a resolution. They include Nebraska and Missouri.

Virginia was the first State to introduce a Tom Paine day in 1998.

Back in 1997, I was in correspondence with Sherwood V. Smith from Fredericksburg.

He had the previous year, persuaded the authorities in his own town to adopt a Tom Paine Day and was kind enough to send me a copy of the Proclamation [see left].

It was Mr Smith who visited the Virginia General Assembly to deliver his proposal for a "Thomas Paine Day" . The detail of the Resolution as follows.

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 35

Designating January 29th as Thomas Paine Day in Virginia.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 14, 1997

WHEREAS, Thomas Paine, a leader of the American Revolution, one of the Founding Fathers, and peer of Washington, Madison, Franklin, and Jefferson, was also one of the most brilliant political philosophers of his time; and

WHEREAS, the author of the inflammatory Common Sense and the inspirational Crisis series, Thomas Paine also wrote treatises on slavery, the equality of women, and human rights; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man, a seminal work written during the French Revolution, formed the very basis for the republican form of government and was one of the most widely circulated books in America during the 1790s; and

WHEREAS, the originality of Thomas Paine's ideas, and his inimitable flair in expressing them, made him one of the most popular, most influential, and most enduring heroes of the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin once wrote: "Others can rule, many can fight, but only Thomas Paine can write for us the English tongue"; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That January 29th of each year be designated as Thomas Paine Day in Virginia, in honor of Thomas Paine's indelible contributions to liberty; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the House of Delegates urge the citizens of Virginia to take note of this day, named in honor of one of the most important, most passionate, and most brilliant men in American history.

Links here to leading Tom Paine societies in the US

BBC REVEAL LOST NUKE IN GREENLAND 1968

The results of a BBC investigation, broadcast this week, revealed that the United States abandoned a nuclear weapon beneath the ice in northern Greenland following a crash in 1968.

This story did not come as a complete surprise to The Generalist, as we covered the majority of the story in an essay written by journalist Jon Trux for 'The Greenpeace Book of the Nuclear Age' published by Gollancz (UK) and Pantheon Books (US) in 1989, as well as in Germany, Greece and Japan. The book was the most comprehensive list ever published of both civil and military nuclear accidents at that time.

Our account was based on the official USAF report on the incident, published in 1970, together with numerous press reports from the mid-1980s regarding efforts by former Danish workers involved in the post-crash clean-up (Project Crested Ice) to claim compensation for the health effects they suffered. After an official Danish investigation, using secret documents sent to them by the US Department of Defense, their claims were denied.

Jon Trux's story concluded with the following:

'In December 1987, a Danish civil engineer involved in the cleanup revealed that a secret, highly sensitive film in the Pentagon archives - shot from a miniature US submarine during the initial search - showed one of the H-bombs from the B-52 lying intact on the sea-bed off Greenland.

'Greenland MPs demanded that the film be brought to Denmark for viewing by government representatives...A pentagon spokesman responded by quoting from a Department of Defense statement issued at the time of the accident which said that fragments of all four bombs had been found and identified by serial numbers matching those in SAC files, thus making it 'impossible for one or more of the bombs to have gone through the ice.'

A pdf of the GP Book of the Nuclear Age can be found here. The Thule story begins on p120. This pdf appears to be the whole book minus, maps, illustrations and references. You can still buy both the complete English and US editions on Amazon and AbeBooks.

The latest revelations come from declassified documents obtained by the BBC under the US Freedom of Information Act, which make it clear that 'within weeks of the incident, investigators piecing together the fragments realised that only three of the weapons could be accounted for.

Even by the end of January, one document talks of a blackened section of ice which had re-frozen with shroud lines from a weapon parachute. "Speculate something melted through ice such as burning primary or secondary," the document reads, the primary or secondary referring to parts of the weapon.

By April, a decision had been taken to send a Star III submarine to the base to look for the lost bomb, which had the serial number 78252....but the real purpose of this search was deliberately hidden from Danish officials. ' The BBC say that the search was abandoned without finding the missing bomb.

For full text see: 'Mystery of lost US nuclear bomb'

PREVIOUS STORIES:

A petition was presented to the European parliament from former clean-up worker Jeffrey Carswell, appealed for pressure on Denmark to start monitoring the health of those exposed to contamination. The US workers involved have been regularly examined, but the Danes and Greenlanders have not, according to a report by Diana Wallis MEP, which the parliament approved by 544 votes to 29. "Many Thule survivors have died of radiation-related illnesses due to the lack of medical monitoring, and current survivors risk contracting such fatal illnesses," says the accompanying resolution. It calls on the Danish government to start health checks now.

See Full story: Denmark challenged over B52 crash by Stephen Mulvey [11 May 2007]

See also:

Nuclear bomb 'lost near Greenland' by John Leyne. 13 August, 2000

The Airborne Alert Program over Greenland (The Nuclear Information Project)

Broken Arrow - The B-52 Accident on the Thule Forum, a site for people who stayed at Thule Airbase, Greenland.

EARTHED: GREEN CARS 2008

Neil Young has gone into partnership with entrepreneur Johnathan Goodwin to create a company called Linc Volt Technology to promote the conversion of existing gas-guzzling cars into vehicles that run on alternative energy.

Young started out just wanting to convert his 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV to run on alternate fuels. The car weighs 2 1/2 tons and at 19 1/2 feet long, it was the longest car built in its era. 'Its original gas mileage', writes Al Saracevic in the SF Chronicle, 'was best measured in feet rather than miles'.

'[Goodwin] had pioneered a new type of alternative-energy engine that makes a car run on a variety of fuel platforms... For short runs, a car can be plugged in, charged and then run strictly on electricity using a rotary engine and its batteries. For longer hauls, there's also a generator in the car that runs on compressed natural gas. When electricity runs short, the generator kicks in and refuels the batteries. To make matters even more interesting, the car's generator will actually feed electricity back into your home when it's parked and plugged in in the garage.

"It's a power generator," Young said. "This thing can power up about a third of a city block. It'll make your meter run backward."

[See Full Story here: 'Neil Young on gas guzzlers: Long may you run.']

Here are some other developments in this field since our Previous Post EARTHED: GREEN CAR GUIDE back in September 2006.

CalCars is the Californian Cars Initiative which is promoting 100mpg + hybrid plug-ins.

Follow the progress of Amory Lovin's Hypercar. See a video of Lovin's talking about his brainchild on the excellent site AutoblogGreen

'Daimler-Benz, the maker of Mercedes, and Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, Canada, have announced a $350 million-plus joint venture to market fuel cells as automobile engines...Ford and Chrysler have also recently announced ambitious fuel cell programs.

'Other technologies vying to power cars of the future range from cleaner gasoline and diesel engines, to miniature gas turbines, to internal combustion/electric hybrids, to incredibly efficient Stirling-technology external combustion engines.

In addition, an estimated 385,744 alternative fueled vehicles are currently in use in the United States, according to Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels 1995, a December 1996 publication of the Energy Information Administration. These include 273,000 vehicles that run on liquid petroleum gases, 81,000 that run on compressed natural gas, 26,000 that run on 85% alcohol, and 3,900 electric vehicles (EVs).

Read full article: 'A Driving Force' by David Holzman Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 105, Number 6, June 1997

'The former chairman and CEO of Intel Corp., Andrew Grove, thinks that energy and transportation have reached a strategic inflection point. That's a term that Grove coined years ago to describe a point in time when conditions in an industry have changed sufficiently to force a sudden and dramatic change of course for a company. Grove believes that the confluence of oil prices, environmental concerns and economic conditions now demand a rapid move from internal combustion to electrically driven vehicles. Grove is now pushing to find a way to retrofit the tens of millions of older vehicles on the road with hybrid drive systems. Grove is pushing for tax incentives to help fund battery and conversion kit development.'

Pic Source: ZME Science

LEWES BONFIRE NIGHT 2008

This year Bonfire Night fell on a Wednesday which meant smaller crowds from out of town and a more relaxed evening all round. Mild and dry for the processions in the early part of the evening, before the rain arrived and steadily beat down for hours. Not that that interfered with some spectacular displays and general joviality round town. The best Bonfire Night in Britain.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE BLACK PANTHER

One person who was not there to witness Obama's election triumph was Black Panther Huey Newton. Had he lived, Newton would be 66. Malcolm X would be 83. Martin Luther King would be 79. [See: 'Barack Obama hailed as the realisation of Martin Luther King's Dream']

Was musing about this while cataloguing the five copies of Newton's paper 'The Black Panther' from 1970 and 1971 in the HQINFO Archive.

Also discovered a powerful obituary, published in The Independent on 26th August 1989 - four days after Newton was found shot dead in the street. The obituary is written the radical lawyer William Kunstler, who defended many significant figures in the underground and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Click on the image to read full size [clip just too long for the scanner]:

The obituary begins: 'The news that the body of Huey Newton had been found lying in a pool of blood, on a street in West Oakland, California, with three bullets in his head, came as a profound shock to everyone who knew him. Less than five months earlier, Abbie Hoffman...' Now read on.

You can find the full text here of 'Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party'. Edited by Kathleen Cleaver and George Katsiaficas. [ Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415927838, 9780415927833]. The blurb says: 'This unique collection of essays conveys the views of scholars and activists on the continuing impact of the Black Panther Party, which inspired thousands to join their movement to transform "the system." [It] offers a fresh and realistic recounting of the tumultuous history of what arguably became the most significant revolutionary organization in the US during the late 20th century.

SEE PREVIOUS POSTS:

REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING

REWRITING MUSIC HISTORY [Contains review of Peter Doggett's book 'There's a Riot Going On.'

FROM THE ARCHIVE: STONEHENGE

STONEHENGE [New Edition]: Its History, Meaning, Festival, Unlawful Management, Police Riot ‘85 & Future Prospects.’ [Radical Traditionalist Papers/No 6/1986. 2nd Edition. ISBN 0 948508 01 09 ]

Credits: Written and published by John Michell. Designed by Richard Adams. Cover illustration by Mikki Rain. Cover design by Nigel Coke. [The edition contains a hand-written note from Richard Adams: 'One slightly fire damaged Stonehenge.']

This 32pp-page booklet is an updated version of the original, published, as the intro of the new edition tells us, 'on Midsummer's Day 1985, three weeks after the shocking incident on 1 June, referred to within...This new edition retains the original purpose: to explain as clearly and concisely as possible the meaning of the Stonehenge temple, to demonstrate its use as an instrument for reconciling different and opposite instruments and to examine how it can be made once more to fulfill its designed function.’

The 'shocking incident' referred to has become known as The Battle of the Beanfield which, according to Wikipedia, 'took place over several hours on the afternoon of Saturday June 1, 1985 when Wiltshire Police prevented a vehicle convoy of several hundred new age travellers, known as the Peace Convoy, from setting up the fourteenth Stonehenge free festival at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England after English Heritage, the owners of the site, persuaded the judiciary to grant an exclusion zone of some miles around the stones.

'The incident became notorious for accusations of a police riot that were reported to have taken place. Those in the convoy insist that, after a stand-off of several hours, police attacked their procession of vehicles by entering the field where they were being contained, methodically smashing windows, beating people on the head with truncheons, and using sledgehammers to damage the interiors of their coaches. The bean field was the next field down from where the vehicles were and when a large number of police entered the first field many of the convoy vehicles tried to escape by going through the beanfield, where they were pursued and arrested by police. The Police stated that they responded after they had earlier come under attack, being pelted with lumps of wood, stones and petrol bombs. The full account of the events remain in hot dispute.'

The best account to date of this incident appears to be ‘The Battle of the Beanfield’, edited by Andy Worthington, with photos and contributions by Alan Lodge, Tim Malyon, Neil Goodwin, Gareth Morris, Alan Dearling and others. [Enabler Publications, June 2005. ISBN 0 9523316 6 7. 240 pages, 102 photos and illustrations, three maps]

There are numerous YouTube videos of this incident including the following:

'Battle of the Beanfield' at Stonehenge 1985.

Battle of Beanfield

Andy Worthington is also the author of 'Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion. [Published by Alternative Albion, an imprint of Heart of Albion Press, June 2004. ISBN 1 872883 76 1. 245 x 175 mm, 300 pages, 147 photos and illustrations, paperback, £12.95.]

The blurb reads: This innovative social history looks in detail at how the celebrations at Stonehenge have brought together different aspects of British counter-culture to make the monument a ‘living temple’ and an icon of alternative Britain.

'The history of the celebrants and counter-cultural leaders is interwoven with the viewpoints of the land-owners, custodians and archaeologists who have generally attempted to impose order on the shifting patterns of these modern-day mythologies.'

'The story of the Stonehenge summer solstice celebrations begins with the Druid revival of the 18th century and the earliest public gatherings of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the social upheavals of the 1960s and early ‘70s, these trailblazers were superseded by the Stonehenge Free Festival, which evolved from a small gathering to an anarchic free state the size of a small city, before its brutal suppression at the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985.

'In the aftermath of the Beanfield, the author examines how the political and spiritual aspirations of the free festivals evolved into both the rave scene and the road protest movement, and how the prevailing trends in the counter-culture provided a fertile breeding ground for the development of new Druid groups, the growth of paganism in general, and the adoption of other sacred sites, in particular Stonehenge’s gargantuan neighbour Avebury.

The account is brought up to date with the reopening of Stonehenge on the summer solstice in 2000, the unprecedented crowds drawn by the new access arrangements, and the latest source of conflict, centred on a bitterly-contested road improvement scheme.'

For those interested in the archaeology of Stonehenge, the June 2008 Issue of National Geographic had an excellent cover story 'If The Stones Could Speak' by Caroline Alexander.In brief, recent investigations had spread out from the stones themselves into the wider surrounding landscape. It now seems abundantly clear from this that Stonehenge was the key part of a much broader sacred landscape that we are only now beginning to understand.
Fascinating stuff. See also NG's multimedia feature 'Stonehenge Decoded'

INSIDE DOPE: LSD IN BRITAIN

The history of LSD has been the subject of numerous studies in the past and the subject of a number of previous posts on The Generalist (see below). Andy Roberts new book 'Albion Dreaming' is a welcome addition to the literature as it breaks new ground by concentrating on the significant effects LSD had on British culture - the first such book to do so.

It is distinguished by a high-level of original research, including numerous interviews with key characters and material from previously unresearched government documents. The book is well-referenced throughout, has a interesting 16pp black-and-white photo section, and will prove a useful and reliable source to researchers and historians in many fields.Roberts writes from a counter-culture perspective in a readable non-academic style which makes his book also accessible to the general reader.

The book, he says, was written to redress the balance in what he sees as an American bias in previous LSD historical accounts and to restore 'Britain's status as a major crucible of LSD culture.'

He writes: 'In fact, LSD is a European export to America. The drug was discovered in Switzerland, the British pioneered LSD psychotherapy and military tests, and much of the counter-culture's underlying philosophy stems from British expatriates such as Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts. On a more fundamental level, at certain times, the bulk of the world's LSD was manufactured in Britain.'

The author has provided a useful chapter-by-chapter commentary on the book's contents, reproduced below, to which I have added additional thoughts and comments, based on my close reading of the text.

1. Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out: Introduction
The author refers to several interesting books of which I was previously unaware: 'Psychedelia Britannica' by Tony Melechi, 'Acid' by David Black and Paul Devereux's 'The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia.'

2. Hofmann's Potion: Albert Hofmann's discovery and the history of LSD worldwide up to1952. Unusual facts about Hofmann's spiritual life prior to the discovery of LSD. Early distribution to the CIA and other military sources.

Sources the origins of the idea of putting LSD in the water supply to a conversation between Los Angeles psychiatrist Nick Bercel, the first medical professional in the USA to work with LSD, and the CIA. He told them that the chlorine in the water would make the drug innefective. Roberts recommends 'Acid Dreams' by Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain as the most comprehensive book on the history of the CIA's involvement with LSD in their search for the ultimate 'truth drug'.

3. LSD: The Cure of Souls?: The coming of LSD to Britain in late 1952. Development of LSD/ psychotherapy at Powick and elsewhere. Unusual government connections with LSD psychotherapy unit at Powick. Interview with Dr Ronnie Sandison etc. The demise of LSD as a therapeutic tool. Dr Sandison's wife wrote to tell me (Ronnie is aged and unable to write) that this chapter was 'The best treatment of R's work I have seen in print'.

Centres on the above-mentioned interview with Sandison, who became Consultant Psychiatrist to Worcester's Powick Hospital from Sept 1951 to 1964. During this time he was supplied free LSD by Sandoz; he had met Hofmann there who had given him a present of a box of ampoules of LSD, making Sandison the first person to bring LSD to Britain. Sandison and colleagues carried out LSD experiments on 36 patients with very difficult psychiatriic problems over the course of a year in 1953. Their report was the first article about LSD to be published in Britain. The results were encouraging: 14 of the subjects recovered; 3 showed moderate improvement. Sandison's work was expanded and a special brick LSD unit was built, with the help of Dr Joel Elkes; Sandison was not aware at the tijme that Elkes had close connections with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). All this work was secret. Sandison believes that, by the mid-1950s, there were more than 10 centres in Britain practicing LSD psychotherapy experiments; by the 1970s, therapy with LSD in Britain had ceased completely.

Chapter also mentions Frankie Howerd's and Sean Connery's experiences with LSD, introduces Ronnie Laing and Syd Barrett.

4. LSD: A Cure for the Common Cold: LSD experiments by the SIS (MI6) in the early 1950s. Continued experiments by the Ministry of Defence in the 1960s. Links with US intelligence.

The fascinating story of the LSD experiments at Porton Down (1953-54), instituted by MI6, and kept secret until 2002. Volunteers were duped into taking LSD without their informed consent. Lab testing resumed in 1961-62 followed by field trials with troops in 1964 and 1966. In March 1971, Porton Down traced soldiers involved in the '60s tests but the details of these follow-up interview have been lost. A detailed police investigation named Operation Antler into a wide variety of experiments carried at Porton (including the LSD tests) was initiated in 1999: its findings were submitted to the Crown prosecution Service (CSP) who concluded that nobody would face criminal charges. Three LSD test veterans waged their own legal compensation battle and settled out of court with the MOD for a reported £10,000 in February 2006.

5. The Joyous Cosmology: Intellectual precursors of the LSD generation focusing on British ex-pats: Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard as well as David Solomon, Timothy Leary and co. How the counter-culture's philosophy was formed.

Much of the material on Huxley is well-known including his experiences on mescaline with Dr Humphrey Osmond, who later coined the term 'psychedlic. This led to his book 'The Doors of Perception', a line from William Blake. His first LSD trip was in October 1955. Less well-known characters are Captain Alfred M. Hubbard, credited with turning on 6,000 people to LSD and Michael Hollingshead, who similarly made it his mission to spread LSD widely. Huxley introduced Hollingshead to Timothy Leary, who first tripped out with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and his wife in December 1961 on acid supplied by Hollingshead, who was also present. American writer David Solomon was literary editor for Playboy in the early '60s and published material by Leary and Osmond. Huxley he described as his 'guru extraordinaire.'

6. The Foggy Ruins of Time: Early recreational use of LSD in Britain 1959-late 1965: Trocchi, Hollingshead, the London Psychedelic Centre etc. Government and media interest.

A valuable chapter much of which was new to this reader, particular the central role of Scottish writer Alex Trocchi,
best known for the heroin memoir 'Cain's Book', here revealed as one of the first major importers of LSD into Britain. His flat in Notting Hill Gate was one of five main LSD pads of the time, the others being 101 Cromwell Rd (where Syd Barrett lived for a while and where Jagger, McCartney and Donovan visited), the luxurious residence of antqiue dealer Christopher Gibb in Cheyne Walk, and 25 Pont Street, both in Chelsea. Hollingshead pops up throughout the narrative as does R.D. Laing. Retells the story of Vince Taylor, the first LSD rock casualty, the man on whom David Bowie based Ziggy Stardust and who Joe Strummer called 'the beginning of British rock 'n' roll.'

7. Strangely Strange, but Oddly Normal: LSD in Britain in 1966. Early users and trials. John Esam. LSD in development of London's counterculture. 'London Life's exposure of Hollingshead's activities. Terry Taylor and the Notting Hill LSD cult. The legislation against LSD and on what basis it came about.

1966 was the year when police arrests began in earnest and the national press began infiltrating the scene and publishing banner headline scare stories.Britain's first successful legal prosecution of freelance photographer Roger Lewis for LSD possession resulted in a £25 fine. Michael Hollingshead was sent to prison for 21 months, during which he took acid in Wormwood Scrubs with the Russian spy George Blake, who escaped from prison to Russia shortly afterwards. New to me was the story of Teddy Taylor, the model for Colin McInnes novel 'Absolure Beginners'; his 1961 novel 'Baron's Court, All Change' contained the first fictional refernce to LSD in Britain. In 1966, the UN called for world governments to put in place controls to prevent the manufacture, sale or use of LSD. In June the British Medical Journal called for LSD to be made illegal in Britain. On July 21st, Roy Jenkins presented to Parliament a draft order calling for LSD to be incorporated into the Misuse of Drugs Act. On September 9th, LSD became illegal to possess or distribute in the UK, followed by the US a month later.

8. Senses Working Overtime: LSD in Britain in 1967. Pop stars and LSD use. The 101 Cromwell Road scene. BBC and LSD lyrics. The first LSD chemist and manufacturing and distribution network in Britain.

Largely concerned with the crossover with LSD and the music scene. Documents the Stones' bust at Redlands, the News of the World's expose of Donovan's LSD lifestyle and LSD links to the Move, the Moody Blues and the Beatles. Also details of Victor James Kapur, the first LSD chemist to be busted in Britain.

9. All You Need is Love?: LSD in Britain 1968-73.Trial of first outlaw British LSD chemist. Tim Leary in Britain. LSD and spirituality in Britain. More on early LSD chemists. Hollingshead and the Isle of Cumbrae commune. Early sightings of Operation Julie participants.

This period saw LSD move from being a consciousness changing substance linked to the movers and shakers of the '60s to a cheap and widely available drug. Emphasises the importance of the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre festival, LSD's infiltration into the squatting movement, continued legal prosecutions and the early roots of the Free Festival movement and what was to become the biggest LSD manufacturing business in British history.

10. Bring What You Expect to Find:LSD and free festivals. How free festivals were focussed on and motivated by LSD. Glastonbury Fayre 1971 and LSD. Watchfield, Windsor, Meigan, Trentishoe, Wally Hope, Bill Dwyer, Sid Rawle.

A useful short history of the Free Festival movement, beginning with Phun City in 1970.

11. The Mind Alchemists: Operation Julie. This chapter analyses the Operation Julie LSD manufacturing and distribution ring. Contains recent information given by one of the main participants.A look at the events leading up to the trial, the trail and its aftermath from a counterculture perspective.

Little to add. Roberts points out that those interested in the fine detail of this story should consult 'Operation Julie' by Dick Lee (the head of the police operation) and Stewart Tendler and David May's 'Brotherhood of Eternal Love.'

12. Coming Down Again: LSD in the 80s and 90s. The rise of rave culture and ecstasy

Begins with Julien Cope of Teardrop Explodes and the Liverpool Club Eric's, the further rise of the Free Festival Movement, its untimely end in 1984 at the Battle of the Beanfield, the rise of the Peace Convoy, the emergence of Ecstasy and the rave culture, the Criminal Justic and Public Order Act 1984, the reemergence of blotter acid and the court case brought by participants in LSD medical experiments in the 1950s and 1960s against the NHS, who eventually paid out £195,000.

13. Revolution in the Head: LSD and the future of drug laws.

At the beginning of the new century, public interest was low, legal cases were small, siezure rates falling. Account of the case of the Brighton-based LSD chemist Casey Hardison, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. A two -year investigation funded by the Royal College of Arts, published in March 2007, called for the legal status of all drugs to be reclassified in line with their potential for actual harm. In October that year, Richard Brumstrom, then Chief Constable of North Wales, called for a radical overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Prohibition, he claimed, causes five harms: increasing crime, overloading the crininal justice system, economic harm, undermining public health, destablisation of countries producing drugs, the undermining of civil rights. The book ends with the death of Albert Hofmann on 29th April 2008 and a quote from Aldous Huxley, in a letter he wrote to Hofmann:

' Essentially this is what must be developed: the art of giving out in love and intelligence what is taken from vision and the experience of self-transcendence and solidarity with the universe.'

PREVIOUS POSTS:
FATHER OF LSD ALBERT HOFMANN DIES AGE 102
LSD and THE BROTHERHOOD
INSIDE DOPE: OPERATION JULIE REVISITED
What the Dormouse Said: Counter-Culture and Computing

THE GODDESS

It was one of the great pleasures during my work producing the programme for the London Festival of Tantra (see Previous Posts) to discover the work of Jennifer Esperanza on the theme of the Goddess.

This Santa Fe-based photographer has a beautiful, sophisticatedly simple eye and her photographs of women are quite simply superb. They manage, by turns, to be strong, emotional, erotic, graceful and elegant, playful and serious.

She has a wonderful sense of colour and composition and it is clear that the images are infused with a deep spirituality and social commitment; the book includes peace activists and pictures Esperanza took India after the tsunami.

She has now produced a wonderful book 'Tears of Venus' through print-on-demand company Blurb, which you can buy directly from them. The images in it are stunning on the pdf she sent me. On the phone, she tells me the print quality in the book is first-class.

In the introduction she writes: ' The women in this book are like wild flowers that grow between the cracks in the sidewalk, strong and free. They are living aspects of the Goddess. Working with each of them was an honour. I enjoy to photograph and work with other women. To share with them an appreciation of their own bodies and souls, as they help me to heal my soul. We made these photos toether to control the world of control and shame; to shake and shift time. We worked together to pull back the walls and free ourselves in the act of worshipping her, the Goddess.'

You can also get a look at her work on Flickr, where she has a portfolio of images, entitled Its All the Goddess In Me, some of which are included in this book.


The theme of this post also gives me a chance to recommend some previously-published books from The Generalist's library that address similar themes.

I have had Return of The Great Goddess for years (first published in 1986) and have often gone back to it for further investigation. It is a beautifully produced pocket-size anthology of images and quotes on the theme of the title. The images include photos, sculptures, illustrations, artworks of all kinds accompanied by literary extracts, pithy spiritual thoughts, poems, short essays. The combination is inspiring, eye-catching and food for thought.

Edited and created by Burleigh Mutén, the Introduction begins: 'After a five-thousand-year reign of malee icons in the Western world, we have the exhilarating privilege of witnessing a global re-appearnce of the Divine Feminine in the arts and in religious ceremony. Women's history suddenly reveals a legacy of authority, leadership, and wisdom, dating back some thirty thousand years, inspiring a new integrity in the women of this cendtury and in our daughters and sons and their daiughters and sons to come.'

The Intro is prefaced with a quote from Rilke, one of my favourite poets: 'You must give birth to images/They are the future waiting to be born.'

(Left): The artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois by Annie Liebowitz

Another favourite of mine is Women, a photobook by Annie Liebowitz with introductory essay by Susan Sontag, published in 1998.

One of the world's most famous women photographers, who carved a career at Rolling Stone and is now top photographer at Vanity Fair, Liebowitz's work is of course extremely well-known and largely celebrity driven. Her pictures demand attention. 'Women' is my favourite of her books because she draws together images of women of all ages, ethnicity and social situations to construct a book that challenges our notions of the feminine.

In the intro, entitled 'A Photograph Is Not An Opinion, Or Is It?', Susan Sontag writes: 'This celebration of variety, of individuality, of individuality as style, saps the authority of gender stereotypes, and has become an i9nexorable counterforce to the bigotry that still denies women more than token access to many occcupations and experiences. That women, in the same measure as men, should be able to fulfill their individuality is, of course, a radical idea.'

Leibowitz and Sontag had a decade-long relationship and the photoshow of this book in Washington DC contained many personal pictures of Sontag, including some 'showing her battle with cancer, her treatment, and ultimately her death and burial.' [Wikipedia]

Finally, mention should be made of the fine, seminal work done by Whitney Chadwick into the history of women in art. Two of her key books are 'Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement' and 'Women, Art and Society.' Also important is 'Significant Others: Creativity and Intimate Partnership' which she edited with Isabelle De Courtivron, insightful profiles of famous artistic partnerships, including Rodin and Camille Claudel.

This is an extremely good set of links to Women in Art sites
It includes the National Museum of Women in the Arts