October 2, 1941--April 2, 2024 (Age 82)
I remember hearing and reading about John Sinclair in the mid to late 1960s when he started becoming an activist in the acceptance and legalization of Marijuana as it was called in those years. After graduating from a Detroit suburban high school high school and ending up at Wayne State University I was hearing or reading his name every day. At least it seemed that way just as it seemed everyone under the age of 30 was reading the radical South End (the WSU student paper) and the Fifth Estate (an underground magazine). What made John Sinclair an important name during those years was his continued activism in the fight for Marijuana acceptance even after several arrests and a couple of years in prison out a 10 year sentence
By the years after 1965 he was soon regularly showing up in articles in the major southeast Michigan newspapers and in TV news programming. His activism included appearances and speeches at rallies including the well publicized Hash Bash which started on the University of Michigan's "Diag" in April of 1971.
John Sinclair also became part of the culture wars for that era because of his management of the rock group, the MC5. The MC5 is probably best known for their signature song, Kick Out The Jams which included the line Kick Out The Jams Mother Fu....s on some recorded versions and at live performances. Later he became involved in the promotion of Iggy Pop.
By the mid-1970s he was becoming known as a writer and poet though he was still involved in the efforts to legalize Marijuana.
The life of John SInclair can be found in the articles listed below. If the links break then anyone with experience finding lost articles using sources like the Way Back Machine can help bring them back up. My understanding is that is can be done knowing the title and author.
One of John Sinclair's arrests led to a short legalization of weed as mentioned here....
Weed Was Legal for Less Than a Month in 1972 in Michigan ... Or Was It?
By Adam Woodhead
https://weedmaps.com/news/2019/04/weed-was-legal-for-less-than-a-month-in-1972-in-michigan-or-was-it/
From here on 420 Magazine
https://www.420magazine.com/420-news/international-cannabis-news/marijuana-legal-michigan-22-days-1972/
John Sinclair, Detroit Poet, Cannabis Activist and Counterculture Icon, Dead at 82
By Bill McGraw
https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/04/02/john-sinclair-detroit-poet-cannabis-activist-and-counterculture-icon-dead-at-82/73179306007/
John Sinclair, Poet, MC5 Manager, and Activist, Dead at 82
By Althea Legaspi
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/john-sinclair-dead-obit-1234997977/
and Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sinclair_(poet)
I remember hearing and reading about John Sinclair in the mid to late 1960s when he started becoming an activist in the acceptance and legalization of Marijuana as it was called in those years. After graduating from a Detroit suburban high school high school and ending up at Wayne State University I was hearing or reading his name every day. At least it seemed that way just as it seemed everyone under the age of 30 was reading the radical South End (the WSU student paper) and the Fifth Estate (an underground magazine). What made John Sinclair an important name during those years was his continued activism in the fight for Marijuana acceptance even after several arrests and a couple of years in prison out a 10 year sentence
By the years after 1965 he was soon regularly showing up in articles in the major southeast Michigan newspapers and in TV news programming. His activism included appearances and speeches at rallies including the well publicized Hash Bash which started on the University of Michigan's "Diag" in April of 1971.
John Sinclair also became part of the culture wars for that era because of his management of the rock group, the MC5. The MC5 is probably best known for their signature song, Kick Out The Jams which included the line Kick Out The Jams Mother Fu....s on some recorded versions and at live performances. Later he became involved in the promotion of Iggy Pop.
By the mid-1970s he was becoming known as a writer and poet though he was still involved in the efforts to legalize Marijuana.
The life of John SInclair can be found in the articles listed below. If the links break then anyone with experience finding lost articles using sources like the Way Back Machine can help bring them back up. My understanding is that is can be done knowing the title and author.
One of John Sinclair's arrests led to a short legalization of weed as mentioned here....
Weed Was Legal for Less Than a Month in 1972 in Michigan ... Or Was It?
By Adam Woodhead
https://weedmaps.com/news/2019/04/weed-was-legal-for-less-than-a-month-in-1972-in-michigan-or-was-it/
From here on 420 Magazine
https://www.420magazine.com/420-news/international-cannabis-news/marijuana-legal-michigan-22-days-1972/
John Sinclair, Detroit Poet, Cannabis Activist and Counterculture Icon, Dead at 82
By Bill McGraw
https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/04/02/john-sinclair-detroit-poet-cannabis-activist-and-counterculture-icon-dead-at-82/73179306007/
John Sinclair, Poet, MC5 Manager, and Activist, Dead at 82
By Althea Legaspi
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/john-sinclair-dead-obit-1234997977/
and Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sinclair_(poet)
