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Robert Anton Wilson or '''RAW''' ( January 18 , 1932 – January 11 , 2007 ) was a prolific American novelist, essayist, philosopher, psychologist, Futurologist , Anarchist , and Conspiracy Theory researcher. He described his writing as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations--to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models (maps) and no one model elevated to the Truth."Patricia Monaghan: "Robert Anton Wilson". ''Booklist'', , not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything.""Robert Anton Wilson". Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007 LIFE Wilson was born Robert Edward Wilson in Methodist Hospital , in Brooklyn , New York , and spent his first years in Flatbush , moving with his family to Gerritsen Beach around the age of 4 or 5, where they stayed until he turned 13. He suffered from Polio as a child and was treated with the method created by Elizabeth Kenny . Polio's effects remained with him throughout his life, usually manifesting as minor muscle spasms causing him to use a cane from time to time until 2000, when he experienced a major bout with Post-polio Syndrome that would continue until his death. He attended Catholic grammar school, most likely the school associated with Gerritsen Beach's Resurrection Church. He attended Brooklyn Tech for high school to remove himself from the Catholic influence. While working as an ambulance driver he attended New York University , studying engineering and mathematics. He worked as engineering aide, salesman, and copywriter and was associate editor for '' Playboy '' magazine from 1965 to 1971. He adopted his maternal grandfather's name, Anton, for his writings, at first telling himself that he was saving the "Edward" for when he wrote the Great American Novel and later finding that "Robert Anton Wilson" had become an established identity. In 1979 he received a Ph.D. in psychology from Paideia University in California,"Robert Anton Wilson." St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th ed. St. James Press, 1996. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007. an unaccredited institution that has since closed.Martin van der Werf: "Lawsuit U." ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', August 4 , 2006 The reworked dissertation was published in 1983 as '' Prometheus Rising ''. He married the freelance writer Arlen Riley in 1958; they had four children. Arlen Riley Wilson died in 1999 following a series of strokes.[http://users.lycaeum.org/~maverick/arlen-int.htm Their daughter, Luna, was beaten to death in an apparent robbery in 1976 at the age of 15. Her brain was preserved by the Bay Area Cryonics Society . Patricia Luna Wilson at cryonics.org WRITINGS Wilson wrote 35 books,"The author of 35 books on subjects like extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs and what he called quantum psychology..." ''New York Times'' obituary. and many other works. His best-known work, the cult classic"...an author of ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' -- a mind-twisting science-fiction series about a secret global society that has been a cult classic for more than 30 years..." from "Robert Anton Wilson, 74; Wrote Mind-Twisting Novels"; (Obit) Dennis Hevesi. ''." The trilogy also outlined a set of Libertarian and anarchist axioms known as Celine's Laws (named after Illuminatus! main character Hagbard Celine), concepts Wilson has revisited several times in other writings. It included a subplot about Biological Warfare in which a Pimp contracts a deadly form of experimental Anthrax . While the pimp is able to elude agents of the US Government -- which reacts to the crisis by overriding the Bill Of Rights --the pimp is eventually tracked down by operatives associated with Hagbard Celine. The story also gives a detailed account of the John F. Kennedy Assassination , in which no fewer than five snipers, all working for different causes, were prepared to shoot Kennedy as he passed in his Motorcade . The book's climax occurs at a rock concert in Ingolstadt where Hagbard Celine tries to rescue the audience from an illuminati plot to make them victims of a massive human sacrifice. ''Illuminautus'' popularized , and also a comic book version was first produced by "Eye N Apple Productions" (headed by Mark Philip Steele), then by Rip Off Press . Wilson also wrote a play called '''' and '' The Walls Came Tumbling Down '' (1997). In '''' (1977) and other works, he examined Discordianism , Sufism , Futurology , Zen Buddhism , Dennis and Terence McKenna , the occult practices of Aleister Crowley and G.I. Gurdjieff , the Illuminati and Freemasons , Yoga , and other Esoteric or Counterculture philosophies. He advocated Timothy Leary 's Eight Circuit Model Of Consciousness and neurosomatic/linguistic engineering, which he also wrote about in '' Prometheus Rising '' ( 1983 , revised 1997 ) and '' Quantum Psychology '' (1990), books containing practical techniques intended to help one break free of one's " Reality Tunnel s." With Leary, he helped promote the futurist ideas of Space Migration , Intelligence Increase , and Life Extension ( SMI&2LE ). '' The New Inquisition '' is quite a serious but very entertaining book arguing that reality is much weirder than we commonly imagine, and citing, among other things, Bell's Theorem and Alain Aspect's experimental proof to suggest that mainstream science has a strong materialist bias, and that in fact modern physics has already disproved materialist metaphysics. Wilson also supported many of the and Neuro Linguistic Programming co-founder Richard Bandler , with whom he had taught workshops. He also admired James Joyce , and had written commentary on '' Finnegans Wake '' and ''Ulysses'' , and wrote extensively about him in his book '' Coincidance ''.1 ISBN 1-56964-801-8 Ironically, considering Wilson long lampooned and criticized New Age beliefs, his books can often be found in bookstores specializing in new age material. He was a well-known author in occult and Neo-Pagan circles; he wrote about Aleister Crowley and his ideas, and used him as a main character in his novel Masks Of The Illuminati . Elements of H. P. Lovecraft 's work are also found in his novels. He claimed to have perceived encounters with magical "entities," and when asked whether these entities were "real", he answered they were "real enough," although "not as real as the IRS" since they were "easier to get rid of." He warned against beginners using occult practice, since to rush into such practices and the resulting "energies" they unleash can lead people to go "quite nuts." Instead, he recommends beginners start with General Semantics , Neuro-Linguistic Programming , Zen Buddhism , basic Meditation , etc. Wilson also criticized scientific types with overly rigid belief systems, equating them with religious fundamentalists in their fanaticism. In a 1988 interview, he was asked about his recent book '', or about anything in establishment science or any entrenched dogma. They're only skeptical about new ideas that frighten them. They're actually dogmatically committed to what they were taught when they were in college..."http://www.nii.net/~obie/1988_interview.htm In a 2003 interview with '' magazine '' Mondo 2000 .'' "CybeRevolution Montage" , ''Mondo 2000'' no. 7, 1989 While he had primarily published material under the name Robert Anton Wilson, he had also used the pen names Mordecai Malignatus, Mordecai the Foul, Reverend Loveshade, and other names associated with the Bavarian Illuminati , which he allegedly revived in the 1960s. Wilson's writings connect to the madcap satirical fiction of Flann O'Brien in several ways, including his free use of O'Brien's character De Selby. The views of De Selby, an obscure intellectual, are the subject of long pseudo-scholarly footnotes in Wilson's novels as well as O'Brien's. This is entirely fitting, because O'Brien himself made free use of characters invented by other writers, allegedly because there are already too many fictional characters. O'Brien was also known for pulling the reader's leg by concocting elaborate conspiracy theories, and for publishing under several pen names. In one interview he was asked what the first thing he would do if he became President of The United States of America. Robert Anton Wilson gave the simple and curt answer "Resign!" OTHER ACTIVITIES Wilson had a long-standing relationship with the , and hosted his first on-stage dialog with his life-long friend Timothy Leary in 1989 in Cleveland, OH,Lesie, Michele (1989) ''High Priest of LSD To Drop In''. Cleveland Plain Dealer entitled ''The Inner Frontier,''''Local Group Hosts Dr. Timothy Leary'' by Will Allison (The Observer Fri. Sept. 29th, 1989) (the same group that had hosted Leary's first Cleveland appearance in 1979).''Two 60s Cult Heroes, on the Eve of the 80s'' by James Neff (Cleveland Plain Dealer October 30th, 1979)''Timothy Leary: An LSD Cowboy Turns Cosmic Comic'' by Frank Kuznik (Cleveland Magazine November 1979) Wilson was also a member of the on several occasions. Wilson also founded the Guns And Dope Party and its corresponding Burning Man theme camp. He and his wife Arlen Riley Wilson founded the Institute for the Study of the Human Future. As a member of the Board of Advisors of the 2007 RAW held the post of American director of the Committee For Surrealist Investigation Of Claims Of The Normal (CSICON) and appeared at Disinfo rmation events. He was a supporter of E-Prime , a form of English lacking all "be" verbs, and preferred "maybe logic".Andrea Shapiro: "Taking the High Road". ''Santa Fe New Mexican'', December 5 , 2003 He coined a new word, sombunall (some but not all), {Link without Title} which never quite caught on. A lifelong experimenter with drugs and strong opponent of the war on drugs, he participated in the weeklong 1999 Annual '', December 17 , 1999 He was photographed receiving Medical Marijuana at a 2002 demonstration in Santa Cruz to curb his chronic pain from Post-polio Syndrome ."In Santa Cruz, an Official Handout of Medicinal Pot." ''Los Angeles Times'', September 18 , 2002 . Wilson was a founder and primary instructor of the Maybe Logic Academy, named for his agnostic approach to all knowledge. Fellow instructors include Patricia Monaghan , Rev. Ivan Stang , Philip H. Farber , Antero Alli , Peter J. Carroll , Starhawk , R. U. Sirius , Douglas Rushkoff and David Jay Brown . DEATH On As his webpage reported on 10 October , these efforts succeeded beyond expectation and raised a sum which would have supported him for at least 6 months. Obviously touched by the great outpouring of support, on October 5 of 2006 Wilson left the following comment on his personal website, expressing his gratitude:
On January 6, he wrote on his blog that according to several medical authorities, he was likely to have only between two days and two months left to live, Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night closing his message with "I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying. Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd." He passed on peacefully five days later, on with his family holding memorial services on February 18 , 2007 . His ashes were scattered at the same spot as his wife's off of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California . http://robertantonwilson.blogspot.com/2007/01/robert-anton-wilson-cosmic-meme-orial.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-3yk7_kLU DOCUMENTARY ''Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson'', a documentary featuring selections from over twenty-five years of Wilson footage, was released on DVD in North America on May 30 , 2006 . Maybe Logic WORKS BY ROBERT ANTON WILSON
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