Ramparts Magazine. San Francisco, 1962-1975.
Founded by a rich convert, Ramparts magazine was envisaged as a
monthly Church-and-secular-affairs magazine for moderately hip Catholic
lay people. By a twist of fate, the magazine fell into the hands of
journalist (and former Catholic-school problem child) Warren Hinckle, who
became its editor. What happened next is subject to interpretation.
According to the revisionist line of former editors Peter Collier and
David Horowitz, the magazine fell into a maelstrom of radical chic:
glamorizing Leninist dictators, falling for crank assassination theories,
and building up a Black Panther Party consisting of common criminals.
(See their grim, sometimes convincing "Destructive Generation.") Hinckle's
"If You Have a Lemon, Make Lemonade," indexed in NameBase, freely
acknowledges 60s excesses -- but sticks up for the questions the New Left
asked, if not always for the answers it provided. Hinckle's book also
sparkles with humor and charity. What's indisputable is that Ramparts
broke scoop after scoop (see the annotation to Hinckle's book). For its
part, NameBase would like to locate a pristine set of Ramparts back
numbers and expand on the several articles we've collected.
-- Steve Badrich
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