RIP Robert Anton Wilson
Here are the first few paragraphs of Realist editor (and fellow cultural curmudgeon) Paul Krassner's Wilson obit, published at the Huffington Post:
"Mainstream media have yet to acknowledge the death of Robert Anton Wilson, prolific futurist author and countercultural icon who passed away early yesterday (January 11). He had been suffering from post-polio syndrome. Caregivers read all of his late wife Arlen's poetry to him at his bedside and e-mailed me that "he was quite cheered up by the time we left. He definitely needed to die. His body was turning on him in ways that would not allow him to rest."
On June 19, 2006, Wilson sent this haiku (with one syllable missing) to his electronic cabal:
Well what do you know?
Another day has passed
and I'm still not not.
We originally became friends in 1959, when his first published article graced the cover of my magazine, The Realist. It was titled "The Semantics of God," and he presented this suggestion: "The Believer had better face himself and ask squarely: Do I literally believe 'God' has a penis? If the answer is no, then it seems only logical to drop the ridiculous practice of referring to 'God' as 'he.'" Wilson then began writing a regular column, "Negative Thinking."
---
Links:
Robert Anton Wilson
Rawilson.com
Paul Krassner's remembrance
---
TS
Comments
That book turned me on to a lot of things...
Fnord!
R.I.P.