Editing Ed Sanders

{{Short description|American poet and activist (born 1939)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Ed Sanders
| image        = Ed Sanders at House Divided.png
| caption      = Sanders reading at the House Divided poetry event, [[Cooper Union]], April 2017
| birth_name   = Edward Sanders
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1939|08|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S.
| years_active = 1958{{ndash}}present
| occupation   = {{flatlist|
* Poet
* author
* publisher
* social activist
* environmentalist
* musician
}}
| known_for    = [[The Fugs]]<br />''Poem from Jail'', City Lights Books, 1963<br />Woodstock Journal
| education    = [[New York University]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|Miriam Sanders|1967}}
| awards       = Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, American Book Award, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award
}}

'''Edward Sanders''' (born August 17, 1939) is an American poet, singer, activist, author, publisher and longtime member of the rock band [[the Fugs]]. He has been called a bridge between the [[Beat generation|Beat]] and [[hippie]] generations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/sanders.html|title=Fugs- Ed Sanders|website=Furious.com}}</ref> Sanders is considered to have been active and "present at the [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture's]] creation."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/books/fug-you-by-ed-sanders-review.html |title=Present at the Counterculture's Creation |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |date=January 11, 2012 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=6 May 2014}}</ref>

==Biography==
Sanders was born in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. He dropped out of the [[University of Missouri]] in 1958 and hitchhiked to New York City's [[Greenwich Village]] to attend [[New York University]]. He graduated in 1964, with a degree in [[Greek language|Greek]].

Sanders wrote his first notable poem, "Poem from Jail", on toilet paper in his cell after being jailed for protesting the launch of [[nuclear submarine]]s armed with nuclear missiles in 1961. In 1962, he founded the [[avant-garde]] journal ''[[Fuck You (magazine)|Fuck You/A Magazine of the Arts]]''. Sanders opened the Peace Eye Bookstore at 383 East Tenth Street in what was then the [[Lower East Side]]; the store became a gathering place for [[Bohemianism|Bohemians]], writers and radicals. On January 1, 1966, police raided Peace Eye Bookstore<ref name="fughistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.thefugs.com/history2.html |title=The History of the Fugs 1964–65 |website=Thefugs.com|access-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> and charged Sanders with obscenity, charges he fended off with the aid of the [[ACLU]]. Notoriety generated by the case led to his appearance on the February 17, 1967 cover of ''[[Life Magazine]]'', which proclaimed him "a leader of New York's Other Culture."<ref name="lifemag">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.originallifemagazines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/116-702-1700.jpg |title=Life Magazine Cover February 17, 1967 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117221923/https://www.originallifemagazines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/116-702-1700.jpg |archive-date=January 17, 2024 |url-status=live|magazine=Life |access-date=January 17, 2024 }}</ref>

In late 1964, Sanders founded [[the Fugs]] with [[Tuli Kupferberg]]. The band broke up in 1969 and reformed in 1984. On October 21, 1967, on the [[National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam]]'s [[National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam#1967 March on the Pentagon|March on the Pentagon]], Sanders helped The Fugs and the [[Diggers (theater)|San Francisco Diggers]] in an attempt to "[[exorcise]]" [[The Pentagon]].<ref>Burns, Alexander (October 21, 2005) [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20051021-pentagon-vietnam-protest-washington-dc-lyndon-johnson-jerry-rubin-david-dellinger-allen-ginsberg-yippie-robert-mcnamara.shtml The Day The Pentagon Was Supposed to Lift Off Into Space] ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219220648/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20051021-pentagon-vietnam-protest-washington-dc-lyndon-johnson-jerry-rubin-david-dellinger-allen-ginsberg-yippie-robert-mcnamara.shtml |date=December 19, 2005 }} </ref> In 1968, he signed the "[[Writers and Editors War Tax Protest]]" pledge, vowing to [[Tax resistance |refuse tax payments]] in protest against the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite news |title=April 15 At Noon, Tax Resistance Action |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-ed-sanders/138974760/ |work=[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]] |date=April 13, 1968 |location=[[Hackensack, New Jersey]] |page=3}}</ref>

In 1969, Sanders recorded and released his first solo album for [[Reprise Records]], ''Sanders' Truck Stop''. Reviewing in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), [[Robert Christgau]] wrote: "This is literally a [[country-rock]] takeoff—not a parody but a departure. But though I hesitate to criticize a man who is not only a saint and a genius but who says hello to me at the post office, I must point out that the yodeling country twang Sanders developed with the Fugs has never known the difference between parody and departure, which makes some of these songs seem crueller than they're intended to be. Of course, sometimes they're cruel on purpose—like 'The Iliad,' a saga of good old [[gay bashing|queer-bashing]] with a [[Greek to me|Greek-to-me]] intro. And sometimes, like 'Jimmy Joe, the Hippybilly Boy,' they're—snurfle—lyrical and sad."<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: S|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=S&bk=70|access-date=March 12, 2019|via=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref>

In 1971, Sanders wrote ''The Family'', a profile of the events leading up to the [[Leno and Rosemary LaBianca|Tate-LaBianca murders]]. He attended the [[Charlie Manson|Manson]] group's murder trial, and spent time at their residence at the [[Spahn Movie Ranch]]. There have been two updated editions of ''The Family'', the most recent in 2002.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Family: Ed Sanders|isbn=<!--9781560253969-->1560253967|last=Sanders|first=Ed|date=November 8, 2002}}</ref> The [[Process Church of the Final Judgment]] sued Sanders's U.S. publisher for [[defamation]] over a chapter linking them with Manson's activities. The case was settled by the publisher, who removed the disputed chapter from future editions. The Process Church then sued Sanders's British publisher, but lost the suit and were forced to pay the defendant's legal fees.<ref name="Love Sex Fear Death">{{cite book | title = Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgement | author = Timothy Wyllie | publisher = [[Feral House]] | year = 2009 | isbn=978-1-932595-37-6}}</ref>

Later in the 1970s, Sanders contracted to write a book about the popular rock band [[Eagles (band)|the Eagles]]. In an interview, Sanders described the contract as paying "very, very well." He worked on it for two years, generating a four volume manuscript that was never published.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moynihan |first1=Colin |title='Hotel California' Trial Centers on Handwritten Eagles Lyrics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/nyregion/eagles-lyrics-trial-hotel-california.html |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 22, 2024}}</ref> In 2005, he sold lyrics worksheets that he'd received in connection with the intended biography, leading to the buyer's and others' prosecution in 2024 for conspiracy to criminally possess stolen property; however, the trial would later be dropped by prosecutors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/hotel-california-trial-dropped-reason-eagles-b2508032.html|title=Hotel California trial over stolen Eagles lyrics abruptly dropped by prosecutors|first=Roison|last=O'Conner|work=The Independent|date=March 6, 2024|accessdate=March 6, 2024}}</ref> Sanders was not charged.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peltz |first1=Jennifer |title=In court, Don Henley recounts the making of the Eagles' megahit 'Hotel California' |url=https://apnews.com/article/henley-hotel-california-lyrics-trial-eagles-305107bd8950280a23ae6100a71f0f88 |access-date=4 March 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=February 27, 2024}}</ref>

Sanders is the founder of the Investigative Poetry movement. His 1976 manifesto ''Investigative Poetry'', published by [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]]'s City Lights Books, influenced investigative writing and poetry during the ensuing decades. In the 1990s, Sanders began utilizing the principles of Investigative Poetry to create a series of book-length poems on literary figures and American History. Among these works are ''Chekhov'', ''1968: A History in Verse'', and ''The Poetry and Life of Allen Ginsberg''. In 1998, Sanders began work on a 9-volume ''America, A History in Verse''. The first five volumes, tracing the history of the 20th century, were published in a CD format at over 2,000 pages in length.

Sanders received a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] in poetry in 1983, and a [[National Endowment for the Arts]] Fellowship in poetry in 1987. His ''Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century, Selected Poems 1961–1985'' won an [[American Book Awards|American Book Award]] in 1988. He was chosen to deliver the Charles Olson Memorial Lectures at [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|SUNY Buffalo]] in 1983. In 1997, he received a Writers Community residency sponsored by the [[YMCA]] National Writer's Voice through the [[Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund]].

In 1997, he was awarded a grant from the [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts]] Grants to Artists Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/individuals|title=Individuals :: Foundation for Contemporary Arts|website=Foundationforcontemporaryarts.org|access-date=August 1, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524151100/http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/individuals|archive-date=May 24, 2015}}</ref> In 2000 and 2003, he was Writer-in-Residence at the New York State Writers Institute in [[Albany, New York]].

Sanders lives in [[Woodstock, New York]], where he publishes the online ''Woodstock Journal'' with his wife of over 56 years, writer and painter Miriam R. Sanders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woodstockjournal.com/|title=Woodstock Journal|website=Woodstockjournal.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124011900/http://www.woodstockjournal.com/ |archive-date=January 24, 2001|url-status=dead |access-date=January 17, 2024}}</ref> He also invents musical instruments, including the Talking Tie, the [[microtonal music|microtonal]] Microlyre, and the Lisa Lyre, a musical contraption involving light-activated switches and a reproduction of [[Leonardo da Vinci|Da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]''.

==Selected bibliography==
*''Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts'', New York: Peace Eye Bookstore (1962-1965)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ubu.com/vp/FuckYou.html|title=UBU Web: Visual Poetry, PDF Archive|website=Ubu.com}}</ref>
*''Poem from Jail'', San Francisco: [[City Lights Bookstore|City Lights Books]], 1963
*''Peace Eye'' (1965)
*''Shards of God'' (1970)
*''The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion'' (1971, New Edition, 1990)
*''Egyptian Hieroglyphics'' (1973)
*''Tales of Beatnik Glory'', Volume 1 (1975)
*''Investigative Poetry'' (1976)
*''20,000 A.D.'' (1976)
*''The Party: A Chronological Perspective on a Confrontation at a Buddhist Seminary'', Woodstock, N.Y.: Poetry, Crime & Culture Press (1977)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/partychronologic00unse|title=Internet Archive|website=archive.org|date=1977 }}</ref>
*''Fame & Love in New York'' (1980)
*''The Z-D Generation'' (1981)
*''The Cutting Prow'' (1983)
*''Hymn to Maple Syrup & Other Poems'' (1985)
*''Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century: Selected Poems 1961–1985'' (1987)
*''Poems for Robin'' (1987)
*''Tales of Beatnik Glory'', Volumes 1 & 2 (1990) New York: Citadel Underground. {{ISBN|978-0-8065-1172-6}}
*''Hymn to the Rebel Cafe'' (1993)
*''Chekhov'' (1995)
*''1968: A History in Verse'' (1997)
*''America, A History in Verse'', Vol. 1 (1900–1939) (2000)
*''The Poetry and Life of Allen Ginsberg,'' [[The Overlook Press]] (2000)
*''America, A History in Verse'', Vol. 2 (1940–1961) (2001)
*''America, A History in Verse'', Vol. 3 (1962–1970) (2004)
*"Poems for New Orleans" (2004)
*''Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century'', Selected Poems (1961–1985) (2009)
*''Let's Not Keep Fighting the Trojan War'', New and Selected Poems (1986–2009) (2009)
*"Edward Sanders | Glyphs" [[The Brother in Elysium]] (2011)
*{{cite book|author=Ed Sanders|title=Fug You: An Informal History of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the Fuck You Press, the Fugs, and Counterculture in the Lower East Side|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_MJngb8LT0C|date=December 13, 2011|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81943-8}}
*"''A Book of Glyphs'' (trade edition) [[Granary Books]] (2014)
*[http://www.granarybooks.com/product_view/1166 ''A Book of Glyphs''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103193459/http://www.granarybooks.com/product_view/1166 |date=January 3, 2018 }} (limited edition) [[Granary Books]] (2014)
*[http://granarybooks.com/collections/glyph-notes-w03r.pdf ''Glyph Notes: Commentary on A Book of Glyphs''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210060338/http://granarybooks.com/collections/glyph-notes-w03r.pdf |date=February 10, 2015 }} (pdf of booklet included with the limited edition) [[Granary Books]] (2014)
*''Sharon Tate: A Life'' (2015)
*''Broken Glory: The Final Years of Robert F. Kennedy'' [[Arcade Publishing]] (2018) illustrated by [[Rick Veitch]]

==Selected solo discography==
*''Sanders' Truckstop'' 1969
*''Beer Cans on the Moon'' 1972
*''Yiddish-speaking socialists of the Lower East Side'' 1991
*''Songs in ancient Greek'' 1992
*''American Bard'' 1996
*''Thirsting for Peace'' 2005
*''Poems for New Orleans'' 2007
*''Surreal Housewives of Woodstock'' 2011 (never released, with Jules Shear)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjco-tnF3c|title=Song 01, Surreal Housewives of Woodstock .m4v|date=November 13, 2011 |access-date=October 9, 2021|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
*''The Sanders-Olufsen Poetry and Classical Music Project'' 2023
*''Ed Sanders and The Plastic People of the Universe - The Garden is Open - In Concert at the Prague Writers Festival 2005'' Released 2024
*''Ed Sanders - Rare and Unreleased Recordings 1965-99'' - 4 CD BOX Set in Hardcover Book Format Released 2024

==Discography with the Fugs==
*See [[The Fugs#Discography|Fugs Discography]]

==See also==
*[[List of peace activists]]
*''[[Poetry in Motion (film)|Poetry in Motion]]'' (1982)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/18537378|title=Poetry in Motion, By Ron Mann|first=Bob|last=Stein|date=January 7, 2011|access-date=October 9, 2021|website=Vimeo.com}}</ref>
* [http://woodstockjournal.com ''Woodstock Journal'']

==Bibliography==
*Charters, Ann (ed.). ''The Portable Beat Reader''. Penguin Books. New York. 1992. {{ISBN|0-670-83885-3}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://archives.lib.uconn.edu/islandora/object/20002:860112456 Guide to the Ed Sanders Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520072229/http://archives.lib.uconn.edu/islandora/object/20002:860112456 |date=May 20, 2018 }} at the University of Connecticut Archives & Special Collections
*[http://www.woodstockjournal.com/ The Woodstock Journal]
*[http://www.michaelmagic.com/pageTogether20.html Photo Ed Sanders Performing With The Fugs, NYC, 1967] by Michael Maggid
*[http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2003/09/ed-sanders.html Feature on Ed Sanders from Paste Magazine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073121/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2003/09/ed-sanders.html |date=January 4, 2018 }} by Matt Fink
*[https://archive.org/details/micadeckerlibrary?and%5B%5D=ed%20sanders Audio recordings of Ed Sanders], from [[Maryland Institute College of Art]]'s Decker Library, [[Internet Archive]]
*[https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/items/show/938 Interview with Ed Sanders by Stephen McKiernan], from Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s.
*{{Discogs artist}}

{{The Fugs}}
{{American Book Awards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Ed}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists]]
[[Category:American tax resisters]]
[[Category:Beat Generation writers]]
[[Category:University of Missouri alumni]]
[[Category:People from Woodstock, New York]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:Reprise Records artists]]
[[Category:Olufsen Records artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American poets]]
[[Category:Activists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American political music artists]]
[[Category:The Fugs members]]
[[Category:Yippies]]
[[Category:American cannabis activists]]
[[Category:PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners]]
[[Category:American Book Award winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Greenwich Village Peace Center]]