Book: D.A.Levy & the Mimeograph Revolution

Being a free-spirited Buddhist didn't save d.a.levy from his demons, sadly, so in November of 1968, aged 26, he put a .22 rifle to his forehead and blew himself out of the world. Reading D.A.Levy & the Mimeograph Revolution reminds me of both my own ambiguity towards Hippy culture in the 60s and the dark side of politics, personal and social.

We know that the golden era of 'freedom' was as much a 'bad trip' as an ecstatic dream (Vietnam, assassinations and riots). Whilst the Beats sawed through the bars of the material domestic boom time penitentiary of the 50s the field they opened up for exploration in the next decade proved to be littered with mines. Liberation? To question it is to sound like a communist party member putting his Cold War boot into capitalism. 

But I can't help thinking of levy's tragic demise as a symbol for not only America's dark side but the fragility of all such hopes, dreams and delusions. Most of us battle demons of some kind, artists and non-artists. Doubt, insecurity and the everyday pressures to survive or conform plague us all. In the UK today the political battlefield is seemingly inescapable thanks to Brexit. One referendum lanced a boil that's been festering for years but no-one's feeling relieved. Worse than all the arguments is the feeling that it's got very personal, to the point where those with opposing views are being branded monsters rather than simply people with different opinions.

I'm leaving the lid on that can of worms and instead focusing on the positive power of determination to create in the face of antagonistic social forces (levy was arrested and harassed by the police). I've not read the whole book yet but it's clear that as much as he was plagued by despair he was driven to send as much art and poetry into the world as he could. In a short span of time his output was incredible. More than that, he did so in the spirit of independence, never looking as if he would get help or financial backing. 

Like all underground press of the 60s, the legacy lived on through zines in the following decades. Ironically, old craft techniques such as letterpress, mimeograph and Xeroxing has swung back into fashion years after the desktop PC production boom died down. So it goes, boom and bust, action and reaction. One constant remains, though and that's the attitude levy personified; Do It Yourself.