The Disneyland Memorial Orgy, by Paul Krassner and Wallace Wood, published in the May, 1967 issue of

eae —A)) V The Disneyland Memorial Orgy, by Paul Krassner and Wallace Wood, published in the May, 1967 issue of The Realist. Readers with annoying bare patches on their wall can buy a copy at www.paulkrassner.com for $35.00 plus shipping and handling. promised him that I would go to prison sooner than identify him. EP: Was that a concern of his? PK: | just volunteered it. So that he would know. And he allowed me to interview him, albeit anonymously.' When I published the interview, I started to get calls. Women who were pregnant that didn’t want to be, and didn’t know where to go. These were differ- ent ages, different classes. I remember one that really had the most force to it: A nurse called. And she couldn’t get a doctor to help her. From a hospital, or even privately. So, I referred her to Dr. Spencer. And she sent me a gift. She knew I had a little daughter. And she sent me a doll. A lion. Holly, my daughter, named it Lenny the Lion, after Lenny Bruce. EP: Oh, that’s great. PK: | began to get more and more calls, and I couldn’t say no. You know this is not an abstract placard saying “Peace Now”, this was somebody that I could help. I couldn’t say no -- ‘cause there are so many things going on in the world that you can‘ help. I never thought ’'d become an under- éround abortion referral service. But, you know, it became my calling, in a way. EP: How long did you continue to help people out? PK: I stopped when I moved to San Fran- cisco [in 1971]. By that time there were others doing referrals -- Protestant min- isters. So, I left my practice behind me. EP: The Realist was one of the first, if not the first, news sources to talk about Enovid [the first birth control pill]. PK: In the first few issues! And the pill was just a rumor. This guy, a journalist -- | didn’t pay him much — he did a two- part article, I think I paid him $100 for each. He went to Puerto Rico, where they were testing women. I had mixed feelings about this, because they were testing them like guinea pigs. But it worked, and it became known as “the Pill.” EP: Since we’re referring to a lot of issues of The Realist, we should prob- ably mention the online archive. I recall, with some humor and business sense, you only asked one thing: That we edit the image to the Disneyland Orgy to include a link to your site, saying a poster was available for sale on your website. PK: Oh yeah, that was a pure ad. 1“An Impolite Interview With An Abortionist,” The Realist #35, June 1962. EP: The first ad to run in The Realist, probably? PE: Well, sure. (laughs) It was letting people know the poster existed. EP: In the ten years that the archive’s been up, it’s enjoyed a lot of regular traffic and is now referenced in many dissertations. By the way, did you see the Washington Post article linking to the archive, specifi- cally the LBJ story?” PK: Oh, yeah. I heard about that from Harry Shearer. He sent me the link to the article, where they refer to me as an “obscure 1960s figure.” The subject line of Harry’s email was “It’s official!” and then in the message, a link to the article and the words “youre obscure!” I laughed hysterically. I think the LBJ piece (“The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy Book,” The Realist #74, May 1967) is still the most notorious article; people remember it. Lewis Black said he was fifteen when he read it and said he was shocked! You know, because the article was written as a seduction, in a way. To the culmination, to the... what do they call it in sex? The climax! And then I published the anagram for Nixon’s veep’s name, Spiro Agnew. EP: “Grow a penis.” Do you remember Ww HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023641