Moorich2@aol.com wrote:
> James Atlee Phillips died in 1991. He and his
musician son Shawn (who looks
> to have been very much into the counterculture of
the 60s) apparently had a
> good relationship. Everyone who followed the "Philip
Atlee" novels know he
> became disallusioned toward the end. But I was
unprepared for the bitterness
> of the 1974 poem by James A. Phillips that his his
son Shawn used for
> inspiration for an album that same year. Called
"Freeway Child," the poem
> talks of "Amerika" and pot-bellied pigs as
police.
I don't know Shawn Phillips, but I definitely must ask
around. This sounds interesting!
> One has to wonder how much James A. Phillips was
influenced by the career and
> later infamy as a CIA operative.
You're saying his later books are bitter. You mean towards
the espionage business, CIA and all that?
> According to chat rooms devoted to James Phillips
son Shawn, James claimed
> the CIA tried to recruit him if for no more than to
make certain tha the
> communists were always the villains and etc. He told
Shawn he refused.
> There are fans of Shawn who make unsupported claims
that others took the
> money including the authors of the Chet Drum and
Executioner series. I say
> again "unsupported" for I cannot believe it and
think it is the product of a
> simplistic view of the era.
Reading the Executioner books one wonders why this couldn't
be the case. But nevertheless this sounds a typical
counterculture paranoia that seems to be pretty big in USA,
just think about X-Files.
> But the more I look into James A. Phillips aka
Philip Atlee, the more
> interesting it becomes.
It sure does. If you find out anything more, please let us
know.
Juri
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