Terry Southern

    "The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish."
  — Terry Southern

Born: 1924   Died: 1995

Terry Southern's report from the 1968 Democratic Convention:

     "Witnessed an amusing, and perhaps historic, confrontation this p.m. when in the lobby of the Hotel Drake, we chanced across a dramatic encounter between Louis ("I have nothing to hide") Abolafia, the nudist-ticket candidate, and testy Babe Bushnell who's running on the S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) ticket, whose founder, it might be recalled, tried to assassinate Andy Warhol. It was a curious meeting, a sort of 'battle of the sexes,' you might say. While the Babe shouted her diatribe about the 'cutting up' of men, and where exactly the process should begin, Abolafia attempted to detract from her remarks by executing what appeared to be a nude dervish or tarantella. Both candidates had to be dragged from the lobby."
       Read the entire report

The photographer,
Carl Fischer, was
arrested after taking
this  picture at the
1968 convention.

Read about it.

     "The only power you have is persuasion."
      — Terry Southern

     "Before the new journalism of Wolfe, Talese, and Kubrick; before the Brave Gonzo World of Hunter S. Thompson, there was legendary cult writer Terry Southern."
      — Amazon.com

Books by Terry Southern:

The Magic Christian (1958)
Candy (1958)
Flash and Filigree (1957)
Blue Movie (1970)
Texas Summer (1991)
Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes (1990)

Screenplays by Terry Southern:

Dr. Strangelove (1964)
The Loved One (1965)
Cincinatti Kid (1966)
Barbarella (1967)
The End of The Road (1970)
Easy Rider (1969)
The Telephone (1988)

     "The effect of art should be iconoclastic — the motivation should be impulsive, natural."
   — Terry Southern

Terry Southern Links

• Terry Southern's Official Website
• A shot from the hip
• Interview with Terry Southern
• Tribute to Terry by his son, Nile Southern
• Terry Southern info
• Terry Southern and The Beatles

     "If there were a Mount Rushmore of American satire, Terry Southern would be the mountain they'd carve it from"
    — Michael O'Donoghue, Saturday Night Live writer & producer

   "Terry Southern is the American writer most capable of handling frenzy on a gigantic scale."
      — Esquire

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