VOL. 9 NO. 4 • y S WINTER 1987 ■11; •V kX-'-H ^✓o-Editors David Milholland Lenny Dee Associate Editors Jim Blashfield, Paul Loeb Art Director David Milholland Designers Candace Bieneman, Tim Braun, Reed Darmon Proofreader Walt Curtis Contributing Artists Craig Bartlett, Jessica Dodge, Stephen Leflar, Carel Moisiewltsch, Musicmaster, Mark Neumann, Isaac Shamsud-Din, Melinda Thorsnes Contributing Photographer Theresa Marquez Account Representative—Oregon Rhonda Kennedy Ad Production Stacey Fletcher, Qualltype, Lisa Springer, Robert Williamson Washington State Coordinator Judy Hines Bevis Account Representative— Washington Cameron Hopkins, Philip Minehan Typesetting Harrison typesetting, Inc., Luria Dickson, Lee Emmett, Marmilmar, Qualltype Camerawork Laura DI Trapani, Craftsman Lithoplate, Inc. Cover Photographer Bill Bachhuber Cover Separations Portland Prep Center, Inc. Printing Tualatin-Yamhill Press Editorial Assistant Margaret M. Dunn Thanks Judy & Stew Albert, Dave Ball, Randy Clark, Helen DeMichiel, Dru Dunlway, Jeannine Edelblut, Anne Hughes, KOAP, Marla Kahn, Craig Karp, Lawrence Gallery, Deborah Levin, Peggy Lindquist, Klmbark MacColl, David Madson, Julie Mancini, Theresa Marquez, Melissa Marsland, Doug Milholland, Kevin Mulligan, Julie Phillips, Sherry Prowda, Jeremy Rice, Julie Rlstau, Norman Solomon, Missy Stewart, Sandy Wallsmith, John Wanberg, The Clinton 500 Ji'?.” V rM i .5 & hi M U tin >ui Rm hH :♦< •H ASZif; MV & % •< •SVi Wl ■h * e* :w £a£>£ 1 v'i'Ji'ri : ^ ; De-Euphemizing the Sixties— John Bennett P j A journey through the “Summer of Love” in 5 decades of our century— from Guam to Eugene, from Frank Sinatra to the Grateful Dead. A Call for Economic Justice For All—Rev. Jesse Jackson Opening the “progressive coalition” to all those Americans who wonder why they’re falling behind during our nat io n ’s longest period of economic recovery. Diet for a Change—Peter Carroll Francis Moore Lapp&, known for her Diet for a Small Planet, reveals her sources and her recipe for democracy. •W £ See America— / ¥ Musicmaster / A roadmap for the open-mindei ai turer. Why leave home when so many things are up in the air. r t f s f t / Ben Linder: In Memoriam—R Sullivan A few words on one of our best*** Letter to Hammond—Richard Alishio A bitter-sweet missive to the industrial heartland from a native son. “ 7 Judgement—John Frank White punks on dope before’a'ltiry of their peers—what’ll happen to Lauri’s baby? 3T? 5 The Motorcycle Accident^ : Walt Curtis (J A Christmas story of life pulled from the i abyss. Organ Trail—Craig Bartlett Organ sets out on the heels of his do- gooder brother Mark, who is spreading the word for Don Hodel and the Reagan Revolution. $ Max—Rick Mitchell jS Max Gordon, owner of the world’s great >4 est jazz club, the Village Vanguard Si fondly reminisces on youth in the North- west and success in the Big Apple < •M let, FL Cover image: “Sunday at the Alibi.” Art- 1st Melinda Thorsnes, a native and resi- dent of Portland, studied at the Pacific S&g Northwest College of Art. She’s had re- cent one-person shows in Philadelphia a n d Portland. She’s represented in Port- land by the Lawrence Gallery. This is a 5 ^ 1 self-portrait. $ 1^4? The Clinton St. Quarterly is published in J j Oregon, Washington and National edi- s J tions by CSQ—A Project of Out of the G Ashes Press. Oregon address: P.O. Box S I 3588 , Po rtland , OR 97208 —(503) [ 222-6039. Washington address: 1520 j ’ Western Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101— J j (206) 682-2404 . Unless otherw ise j noted, all contents copyright ®1987 ’ Clinton St. Quarterly. As the winter rains settle into the Pacific Northwest, erasing all v memory of the drought, a siege mentality seeps into our bones. In many cases people become distinctly para- n o id . In o th e r s , the o p p o s i te emerges—a need to settle accounts, smite the devil and expose villains. With the greyness filling our souls, i t ’s u n d e rs ta n d a b le , bu t i t can be irresponsible. A surprising case emerged a few weeks ago. Willamette Week, a Portland newspaper of generally liberal disposition, unveiled a heavy attack on Michael Stoops, who has worked for years with the down and out, and created something of a one-man empire of the poor. In years previous he has been deeply involved in anti-draft counseling. In short, he’s been a very effective activist. He spent this past winter in Washington D.C., living outside in protest of federal policies toward the homeless. On his return, having moved Congress, he was treated as a conquering hero. Heroes are never perfect. None of us are. Few of us rise to prominence, however. This past year has seen a series of revelations exposing to public scrutiny the private lives of such national figures as Senators Hart and Biden, judges Bork and Ginsberg and TVangelist Bakker. Gary Hart even had the affrontery to ask the media to find him out. It’s become a field day for the press, with the Miami Herald, the NY Times and your hometown rag competing face up with the gutter tabloids. So when Willamette Week unveiled Mr. Stoops’ “ pedophilia,” a charge largely based on claims of disgruntled ex-employees, every local TV station and even i t ’s slow-moving competitor, the Oregonian, rushed into the fray with claws bared. The serious underlying charge, abuse of authority, is of course deserving of scrutiny. In this period, however, with the AIDS epidemic bringing homophobia out of the closet, the timing is suspicious. Now, apparently, homosexual behavior is fa ir game. “ Good people” are of course sympathetic to the plight of AIDS victims, but with rare exceptions, public policy has remained dormant as the disease ravaged the gay community. In Portland, no less than any U.S. city, hundreds of young men survive by going to “ The Wall,” but no family newspaper has seen fit to exam- ine the p l igh t o f those inv is ib le victims. S im ila r a llega t ions aga inst Mr. Stoops were dismissed three years ago, but no media outlet saw f it to bring the case forth then. It does seem odd that the story appears just as Baloney Joe’s, Mr. Stoops’ most visible project, has put down i t ’s first payment on a building that would bring that home of the homeless back into the downtown core area. What better time to sully if not destroy the reputation of the project’s figurehead and principal fundraiser. This kind of attack threatens us all. It effectively eliminates not only homosexuals but anyone who has ever used illicit substances, had an abortion, or ever taken an unsafe political position, from the public forum. It encourages only the most circumspect, and thus the blandest, to speak out or run for office. It virtually guarantees mediocrity in our political process, something we can at no time afford. In the meantime, my cousin, a lovely young woman in her mid-thirties, is ravaged with the Elephant Man’s disease, neurofibromatosis. She’s had literally dozens of operations to remove tumors, two of which involved major brain surgery. She’s one of the thousands of young people who grew । up in the Hanford area. Only now, 40 years after radioactivity began pouring into the sky and water, is the plight of her peers, who are suffering from cancer and other life-destroying diseases at rates far beyond the national norm, a concern of the media. There are dozens of similar situations to be exposed and explored, far more compelling than the private behavior of public individuals. We reap what we sow. It is a critical time to plant the seeds of hope, to struggle actively for a better world. Happy holidays. DM Clinton St. Q u a r t e r l y -Winter, 1987 3
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