The Digger Papers
| Staff writers | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Diggers/The Communications Company |
| First issue | Fall 1965 |
| Final issue | August 1968 |
| Based in | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
The Digger Papers was a free collective publication of the Diggers, one of the 1960s improvisational theatre groups in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. The magazine was first published in Fall 1965.[1] Peter Berg was one of the regular contributors to the publication.[1]
One of the first Digger activities was the publishing of various broadsides, which were printed by sneaking into the local Students for a Democratic Society office and using their Gestetner printer.[2] The leaflets were eventually called The Digger Papers, and soon morphed into small pamphlets with poetry, psychedelic art, and essays. They often included statements that mocked the prevailing attitude of the counterculture promoted by less radical figures like the Haight-Independent Proprietors (HIP), Timothy Leary, and Richard Alpert. The first paper mocked the acid community, saying, "Time to forget because flowers are beautiful and the sun's not yellow, it's chicken!" The Digger Papers originated such phrases as "Do your own thing" and "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."[3] Articles rarely included authors' names, though some had pseudonyms like "George Metevsky," a reference to the "Mad Bomber" George Metesky.
In the early part of 1967, writers Chester Anderson and Claude & Helene Hayward[4] helped form the Communications Company (ComCo), the publishing arm of the Diggers. Using two "Gestetner mimeograph machines that had been nefariously obtained through the offices of Ramparts magazine,"[4] ComCo took over publication of The Digger Papers.[citation needed]
The last issue of The Digger Papers, published in August 1968,[5] featured a reprint of Richard Brautigan's poem, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace."[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Doug Aberley (2005). "Interpreting bioregionalism: A story from many voices" (PDF). In Michael Vincent McGinnis (ed.). Bioregionalism. London and New York: Routledge. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ Paese, Meagan. "Summer of Love | The History of Rock and Roll Radio Show". Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ Daloz, Kate (August 7, 2017). "The Hippies Who Hated the Summer of Love: The merchants of Haight-Ashbury advertised a summer of free food, free lodging, and free love. What they got instead was a civic nightmare". Longreads.
- ^ a b "The Communication Company -- Publishing Arm of the Diggers". The Diggers Archive. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "The Digger Papers. August 1968". The Digger Archives. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ Barber, John F. "Poetry - All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace". American Dust. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
External links[edit]
- 1965 establishments in California
- 1968 disestablishments in California
- Defunct magazines published in the United States
- Entertainment magazines published in the United States
- Free magazines
- Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco
- Magazines established in 1965
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