Stephanie Nikolopoulos's Blog, page 18
August 8, 2014
Remembering Herbert Huncke
I have to say, Herbert Huncke is one of the most fascinating characters associated with the so-called Beat Generation. He came from a middle-class family in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and was raised in Chicago, but left all that behind when his parents divorced to live the life of a hobo. He jumped trains across America and […]
August 1, 2014
“The War Is Over! John Lennon Lost!”: Did the FBI Kill John Lennon?
Yesterday I wrote about Allen Ginsberg’s connection to Timothy Leary and the CIA. I’ve already told you before that the Beat Generation influenced The Beatles, and today I’m here to tell you John Lennon had a connection to Timothy Leary and the FBI. Welcome back to Conspiracy Theory week! Years ago, I went to the […]
July 31, 2014
Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and the CIA
It’s widely acknowledged that the Beat Generation writers experimented with drugs, which influenced both the content and style of their writing. I’ve written before about how Allen Ginsberg’s drug use shaped his writing when he had a vision while reading William Blake, forever guiding his poetry. But dear old Allen Ginsberg was also leery […]
July 29, 2014
That’s Cute that You Think You’re Subversive: How the CIA Promoted the Radical Arts During the Cold War
During a recent writing workshop that I’m part of with two female writers, our conversation rambled along to the topic of how the CIA had advanced abstract expressionism. That weekend one of the writers asked if I’d pass along the article I had referred to. I did a quick search for it online, […]
July 28, 2014
The Quotable Greek: Think for Yourself
“To find yourself, think for yourself.” ~ Socrates “Think for yourself.” Hear that? Welcome to Conspiracy Theory Week!Filed under: Greekish Tagged: conspiracy theory, Conspiracy Theory week, Socrates, The Quotable Greek
July 24, 2014
Hemingway’s Weirdo Six-Toed Cats
“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.” ~ Ernest Hemingway I’ve known for a long time that Ernest Hemingway liked cats. A lot. Key West is said to be overrun with cats because of him, which is probably a […]
July 23, 2014
Hemingway and Kerouac Explain “Lost” and “Beat” Characters
In honor of Ernest Hemingway’s 115th birthday this week, we toasted him with a daiquiri yesterday. Today the celebrations continue with a snippet from Burning Furiously Beautiful that shows the parallel between Hemingway and Jack Kerouac: “Concerned that the message of his book had been misconstrued, Hemingway wrote to his editor Maxwell Perkins–who edited […]
July 22, 2014
The Starving Artist Toasts Ernest Hemingway with a Daiquiri Recipe
“I drink to make other people more interesting.” ~ Ernest Hemingway Starving artists know that birthdays mean free drinks at the bar. Today we toast to Ernest Hemingway, who would’ve turned 115 years old yesterday. Hemingway had a bit of a reputation as a drinker. “I have drunk since I was fifteen and few […]
July 21, 2014
Happy 115th Birthday, Hemingway!
Ernest Hemingway on safari, Kenya, 1954, via the JFK Library That irascible author Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. One of my friends, a fellow Scrippsie, actually took me to visit his birth home a number of years ago when I visited her in Chicago, and it’s an […]
July 18, 2014
Happy 77th Birthday, Hunter S. Thompson!
Hunter S. Thompson was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on this day in 1937. (Fun fact: the S. in his name stands for Stockton.) He’s known as the originator of “Gonzo” journalism — a type of journalism where the reporter gets so involved in the story, he ends up part of it! Oh, and he wrote […]
