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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, April 18, 1968
Lenny Bruce's legacy
The tragedy of Lenny Bruce's death in August, 1966, from an overdose of heroin was compounded by the absence of an heir to succeed him as America's satirist-laureate and moralist par excellence. In Bruce's wake were stand-up comedians Shelley Berman, Mort Sahl, and Bob Newhart, authors Terry Southern, Dan Greenburg, and Art Buchwald, and masters of both mediums—as Bruce himself was—Woody Allen and Dick Gregory.
But perhaps closest to the throne by virtue of being an actual extension of Bruce is Paul Krassner, best known as editor and ringleader of The Realist, a journal of satire and social and political commentary. Like his late friend, Krassner is no respecter of anyone's conventions, especially those of taste. "Irreverence is our only sacred cow," he announced on page one of the now-infamous May, 1967, issue in which he proved it beyond any doubt by publishing a satire on Lyndon Johnson which made Barbara Garson's seditious play "MacBird!" look like "Up with People."
Krassner's nasty or delightful—depending on your viewpoint—little journal is sui generous among underground publications. Frequency of publication (normally ten issues a year) and format (newsprint magazine a la The New Republic) render it ineligible to be a newspaper. Yet in view of its unprofessional appearance and frequently hammy copy, it is not strictly a magazine. It is best described as a highly personal pamphlet, quite free of ideology and ideological prejudice. Krassner's passion is to demolish what he sees as sham and hypocrisy wherever it exists in this society, whether in the Establishment or in the subcultures and minority movements. Admittedly, he aligns with the political and aesthetic New Left, but it is largely because he respects its honesty, not simply because he coincides on a spectrum with radicals. If the Left lapses into opportunism, Krassner applies the flat of his pen as he did in February, 1966, when he bitterly commented that criticism of the House Un-American Activities Committee had fallen off sharply since it had opened its investigation of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Realist began publication in the summer of 1958, and the sheet Steve Allen has praised as "more or less the periodical equivalent of Lenny Bruce" first gained widespread notoriety in the spring of 1962 when Krassner printed an erroneously documented story that President Kennedy had been married to a two-time divorcee before he married Jacqueline Bouvier. (The White House denied the story which the major media had refused to publish for 16 months.) The Realist has since featured articles by Bruce, Madalyn Murray, Terry Southern ("You can say things in The Realist that you can't say in other publications"), Woody Allen, Steve Allen, Dick Gregory, and Norman Mailer.
At 35, Krassner is almost as ubiquitous as his contributors. Contributing editorships to Playboy (which did not leave Hugh Hefner unmarked in The Realist's columns), Cavalier, and Ramparts have enabled him to publish the unprofitable vehicle for his opinions without starving.
Another source of funds for The Realist and "various monuments to bad taste" and Krassner's pet charities (e.g., the War Resisters League and the Free Southern Theatre) is "An Evening With a Self-Styled Phony," a lecture which Krassner probably sees as an opportunity to play Lenny Bruce as well as to be didactic. KU students will have an opportunity to experience an "Evening" with Krassner tonight in the Methodist Student Center. He promises only to "say funny things and answer impolite questions," not a great deal at first take but actually a lot coming from a master of soft-sell.
Krassner may be obscene tonight (which, if gauged by the "community standards" of Lawrence, isn't difficult), or he may warm his audience with persistent folksiness. Probably he will do both. Whatever his approach, it is an honor for KU to merit a visit from this libertarian who helps define and expand the limits of free speech by constantly challenging them.
— Don Walker
Assistant Editorial Editor
Letters to the editor
Of diplomats and death
To the Editor:
It is a mistake to believe that an invasion of black Africa by Afro-American diplomats will result in unexpected diplomatic gains for the United States.
This idea wrongly presumes that:
America's racial problem is the major factor in African-American diplomatic differences:
-Africans can be bamboozled into believing that such an invasion is tantamount to a solution of American racial problems, which is not likely to be the case;
-Africans are so racist-minded that they would prefer to receive Afro-American diplomats from this country. In this connection, I should refer readers to a recent report by the Institute of International Education on African students in this country as an indication of the error involved here. The report showed that "contrary to popular belief, the two groups (Africans and Afro-Americans, that is) do not make friends easily."
What ought to be noted and pronounced with emphasis if that if America should maintain good
diplomatic relations with African countries, it must, while continuing to solve its racial problems, approach African countries diplomatically from a non-racial point of view. To send an army of Afro-American diplomats to Africa merely projects to Africans and to the world the very spectre of racism America is so desperately trying to cleanse itself of.
The fact that more and more Afro-Americans are regaining their lost sense of pride and dignity by drawing hope and inspiration from the new African countries and their rich cultures is a laudable enough development. But to project it beyond this point, to see in it a prerequisite for diplomatic assignments in Africa is a folly.
No racial stint ought to be brought into diplomacy. Qualification for diplomatic service should be regardless of one's race or racial origin or interest. And, I emphasize this last point, no matter what qualifications an American diplomat in Africa has, it is inconceivable that he can swing any of the black African nations into submission to Washington.
These countries have declared on numerous occasions their intention to follow a foreign policy of positive non-alignment in the pursuit of peace and progress in the world. This is a policy that has, from time to time, brought them into confrontation with both Washington, Moscow, and others.
The policy of positive non-alignment ensures for them a meaningful independence and a part to play in shaping the affairs of the world for better or worse. That, I am sure, they are most reluctant to part with. Swaebou Conateh
One of the more interesting of the new novels in paperback edition is Herbert Gold's Fathers (Crest, 75 cents). The book has been high on bestseller lists. It is the story of a Russian emigrant and his struggles in America, and it is the classic tale of trying to achieve the American dream. Beyond that it is in its affirmative way quite a change from the nihilistic strain of recent literature
Swaziland School
Dippakunda, the Gambia, senior
Also new is John Stewart Carter's Full Fathom Five (Crest, 60 cents). The book won the Houghton Mifflin award, and has been praised as a literate story of love and family relationships.
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And a couple of mystery thrillers. Winterwood by Dorothy Eden (Crest, 75 cents) is another of those that show a damsel fleeing from an old Gothic castle. This genre will never run out. Joyce Porter's Dover Two (Crest, 50 cents) is a new adventure for the generally slobby and unlovable Inspector Wilfred Dover, who is trying to solve a double murder. Very British.
To the Editor:
The shocking sudden death of Dr. Edward S. Robinson is a dreadful loss to the University of Kansas, its faculty, alumni, and students. He was a most admirable person with the brightest of intellects and a most impressive knowledge of philosophy, history, and classical literature.
Books
For ten years I was closely associated with him on the Humanities Committee; he was a diligent and reliable worker, a constant contributor of ideas, and a valuable adviser because of his broad knowledge of the humanities and his personal acquaintance with so many of the best scholars in the broad field.
We all at KU will greatly miss his hearty laughter and keen sense of humor, his supreme devotion to his work, his genuine concern for others' interests, and his wisdom and dedication as a leader.
I shall always feel privileged because I came to know so well this really great educator and scholar.
Elmer F. Beth
Elmer F. Beth Professor of Journalism
"If it goes below the 20th parallel, do we shoot it down?
. . . Over . . . "
Kansan record review
Brasil '66 triumphs in 'Look Around'
By Will Hardesty
One of the under-rated groups in the country is Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. This group is the greatest—the only group I have ever seen that I think is better in person than on record. They have a new album out—LOOK AROUND on A&M Records.
This album shows some new arranging techniques for Brasil '66—there is more orchestral accompaniment. Still there is the typically great Mendes brand of swinging, sexy, happy bossa nova.
The album opens with a Lennon-McCartneyism — "With a Little Help From My Friends." It's interesting to see how well Mendes can adapt the Beatles' music to his style (Remember "Day Tripper"?) and come up with something good.
The rest of side one is in the great Brasil '66 style. The two chicks—Janis Hansen and Lani Hall—show off their tremendously matched voices. When the two of them sing together, their voices blend well enough to sound like a third voice—a completely new individual—singing. They are excellent. Behind them, Joao Palma on drums, Jose Soares on the Latin percussion and Bob Matthews on bass team up with Mendes on piano to enjoy their way through four more songs.
"Roda" is the "old" happy laugh-and-joke-and-shout-to-each-other sound of Brasil '66. "Like a Lover" shows off the balance and quality of the entire group's voices. It also introduces a hint of the stringed orchestral accompaniment to come. "The Frog" brings out a trace of brass. "Tristeza" (Goodby Sadness) is a happy sad song.
Side two opens with "The Look of Love." This Bacharach-David song was written well enough to be nominated for an Academy Award, and on the Award presentation program it was Brasil '66 who sang it. With a husky, airy female voice in the lead, backed by the Latin-accentedly suggestive male voices on the chorus, this is the kind of presentation to send chills running up and down the vertebrae.
The second song, "Pradizer Adeus" (To Say Goodbye) is kind of the same beat and is done beautifully enough to be from "A Man and a Woman."
"Batucada" (The Beat) is in the "old" style—an all-in-Portuguese bossa nova swinger.
"So Many Stars" is very modern lyrically. It tells of the search for meaning and direction in today's complex life. Musically, it is the gentle swing of Mendes style.
The title song of the album is last on the record. It is Latinish in its thought and one of the best songs on the album. Be happy. See beauty in the everyday things around you, the song advises. Enjoy the simple pleasures. They're free and the easiest to enjoy, if you'll let yourself.
"Let the child within you sing. . . . Let the child within you free / When you look around. . . . It's all there. . . . Look around / Just look around."
This album has the "old" fun-loving Brasil '66 on it. But it also has a "new" more subdued, more orchestrally backgrounded group. The new and the old do not conflict. They are both great to listen to. Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 triumph again in LOOK AROUND.
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