American Avatar

1 Third Cycle, First Edition (Oct. 1968)

2 Third Cycle, Second Issue (Nov. 1968)

3 (early 1969)

4 Fourth Cycle, First Issue (Summer 1969)

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1 - Third Cycle, First Edition (Oct. 1968)

The first issue of American Avatar came out in October 1968. The cover shows "OCT  50¢" in the upper right corner, and "Photograph by Mel Lyman" at the bottom. (Michael Kindman identifies the woman on the cover as Paula Press.) 10 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. (26.2x34.4 cm), 28 pages, including covers, unnumbered except for pages 24 and 25. No masthead, no table of contents.

CONTENTS Pages 2-3: [unsigned, untitled "diary" by Eben Given of his New York stay] Page 3: [subscription form]: TO: AMERICAN AVATAR 37 RUTLAND STREET, BOSTON, MASS 02118 80 WOOSTER STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10012 [$5 for 12 issues] Now Because we are no longer a newspaper, or a magazine, but simply Avatar - which includes the purpose of both and much more - we may not work on any deadline or date of publication. In the future Avatar will be published monthly by the dictates of events we have no choice but to define. We will accept no classified information unless it is relevent to the order of each issue. We will accept no advertising whose layout can not be brought to the level of our own. We will accept all donations from those who can distinguish the standard which we have set to speak the truth. THIRD CYCLE FIRST EDITION Page 4: LETTERS from AMERICA Jon Brian [Keating]'s response to Jon Ray Mungo daedalus lerner Danny Mel's letter to Brian [Keating] of the New York Avatar Page 5:WHEN WAS THERE GREATNESS IN HISTORY? ["We, the old staff of the original AVATAR..."] Pages 6-7: THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING [by Mel Lyman] Pages 8-9: [on the Democratic Convention] by Brian Keating Pages 10-11: "All Kinds of Stuff Passing through your Body All the Time" by Skip Ascheim Page 11: [Conversation with Hubert Humphrey] by Edward Jordan Pages 12-17: American Odyssey by Carl Nagin Page 18: ["Carl brought the storm to Boston..."] by Skip Ascheim Page 19: "Some Enlightening News" by Mel Lyman Page 19: "Telling it Like it Is" by Mel Lyman ("Creeping around on this planet in the wee wee hours..." April '66) Pages 20-21: "Great God, I just looked at a newspaper." by Eben Given Pages 22-23: Elegies [drawing by Eben Given] Pages 24-25: For Don McNeil Page 24: ["I am on a hill..."] by Eben [Given] Page 25: ["Oh, friends of mine have died before..."] by Wayne [Hansen] Page 26: [portrait of Mel (drawing) by Eben Given] Page 27: ["Once I was free of memories..."] by Mel [Lyman]

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2 - Third Cycle, Second Issue (Nov. 1968)

The second issue of American Avatar came out in November (?) 1968. The cover shows "1.00" in the upper right corner. (Michael Kindman identifies the woman on the cover as Faith Gude.) 11 7/8 x 14 7/8 in. (30.2 x 38 cm), 36 pages, including covers, unnumbered. No date, No masthead, no table of contents. A subscription form was stapled into the center: "A subscription to American Avatar is ten dollars for one year (twelve issues). Be sure to include zip code with your mailing address. A special Editor's Choice collection of back issues is available at ten dollars per set. It includes the best of our past work. Make checks payable to: American Avatar / 5 Fort Avenue Terrace / Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119"

CONTENTS Page 2: Letter from Patti Ramsay and Mel's reply Page 3: Contemplations ["When, by one experience or another..."] by Mel Lyman Page 4: "When was there greatness in history?" Page 5: ["The election of Richard Milhaus Nixon..."] by Owen deLong Page 6: Contemplations ["The more sensitive the man..."] by M.J. Lyman Page 7: ["To carry loneliness with grace is dignity..."] [by Mel Lyman] Page 8: ["There was a wooly season once..."] by Faith [Gude] Page 9: [dark photo of a man in a garden with a rifle] Page 10: "Some Enlightening News" by Mel Lyman Page 11: THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS by Mel Lyman Pages 12-13: There are a lot of illusions surrounding any truth Page 12: ["My friends. I have been among you these few days..."] by John Wayne the Baptist [Wayne Hansen] Page 13: ["Max Lefcourts on Madison Avenue..."] by Brian [Keating] Page 14: Patrons & Friends Page 15: Ad for Jim Kewskin and The Lyman Family etc. at "The Little Theater" (Dec. 14, 1968) and Jordan Hall (Jan. 25, 1969) Pages 16-19 ads Page 20: ads for Joey Goldfarb, Eben Given, George Peper, "Autobiography of a World Saviour", letter to readers: Dear Readers, Our purpose was stated in last issue, it is created in this one. The widely varied forms of expression in this publication over its first year and a half have brought us this far, the need for expression has only become greater. We are creating a new world. We begin with ourselves, we extend ourselves to the immediate world around us, American Avatar brings us to you. We're not foolin', but we'll not be dismal either. We have nowhere else to go, we have nothing to lose, we want only to talk with you in the best form we know. To speak in a magazine as beautifully as we sing, to make music through these pages, requires the care and exactness of layout Avatar is known for, it requires the highest quality printing, it takes money, it takes continuing expansion of readership. We give up everything we have, and make more of ourselves to give away ---- All toward the same single purpose ---- will you do as much? We need to have more people know about us, we need more ways to do that, we need contributions, we need a national distribution. And you need these things too, for you need us, just as we need to do what we have to do. Avatar is the compassionate conscience of America. Nobody likes their conscience, but everybody has to deal with it. We're waiting for you, American Avatar Third Cycle - Second Issue - American Avatar is a subsidiary of United Illuminating Incorporated Page 21: [photo of two women] Pages 22-33: "The Fort Hill Community" by Mel Lyman [title page painting by Eben Given, seven photos...] Pages 34-35: ["We have been afloat now for seven months..." by Mel Lyman]

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3 - (early 1969)

The third issue of American Avatar came out in early 1969. There is no price or other writing than "American Avatar" on the cover. (see Michael Kindman on this issue.) 14 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (36 x 28.5 cm), 28 pages, including covers, unnumbered. No date, no masthead, no table of contents. A subscription form: "Well Folks - right now we are publishing a magazine, but later on anything is possible - whatever it is, we'll send you at least one of it, every time we do it. Please send $10.00 to: American Avatar, 27 Fort Avenue, Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119."

CONTENTS Page 3: Message to Humanity [by Mel Lyman] Page 5-6: ["As Christ appearing in this modern day and age..." by Mel Lyman] Page 9: "An on-the-spot report from Les Daniels" [by Les Daniels] Page 10: [Letter to Mel from Mark Hirschhorn and Mel's reply] Page 12: [Review of Jacques Sandulescu's Donbas, by Mel Lyman] Page 13: ["I have written much here that ridicules..." from Autobiography by Mel Lyman] Page 14: "On Mountains", "Contrary" Page 17: ["Although it seems that many days have passed..." by Mel Lyman] Pages 18-19: ["I'll never forget the day my father took me aside..." by Mel Lyman and Wayne Hansen Page 20: Essay on the New Age ["The more freedom, the more discipline required..." by Mel Lyman] Page 22: Essay on the New Age ["There is a divine spirit that dwells deep in the heart of man." by Mel Lyman] Page 24: ["Patience is the test of character..." by Mel Lyman] Page 26: Contemplations ["The body does not create life..." by Mel Lyman]

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4 - Fourth Cycle, First Issue (Summer 1969)

The fourth (last) issue of American Avatar was dated Summer 1969, the first issue to indicate a year. The cover shows "Fourth Cycle, First Issue  Summer, 1969  $1.00" under the title, a photo of David and Faith Gude's daughter Clothilde (see Michael Kindman) and "No Solution to Revolution", "Ted Kennedy's Greatest Speech", "Exclusive Interview with Antonioni's Newest Superstars" at bottom. 11 3/4 x 14 1/4 in. (30 x 36 cm), 44 pages, including covers. This was the only issue with a masthead and table of contents.

Masthead
Mel Lyman	Editor-In-Chief
Jessie Benton Lyman	Executive Editor
Wayne Hansen	Managing Editor
Melinda Cohan	Fable Editor
Brian Keating	Editor At Large
Eben Given	Art Director
George Peper	Director of Photography
Kurt Franck	Associate Director of Photography
David Gude	Programming Editor
Richard Guerin	Calligrapher
Randall Foote	Production Manager
Marilyn Kweskin	Executive Compositor
Albert Davis	Chief Compositor
Faith Gude	Cover Production
Production Staff	Candy Schoenherr Wende Sheffield Ian Franckenstein Sofia Lucero
Composition Staff	Joyce Newmark Alison Peper
Special Correspondents	J. Jeremy Greenwood, London Jay Litvin, Chicago Paul Williams, California
Special Advisors	Owen de Long, Political Advisor Joseph Goldfarb, Astrological Advisor
James Kweskin	Business Manager
Lynn Hill	Advertising Director
Mark Spector	Distribution Director
Elizabeth O'Melveny	Communications and Subscriptions
Marlena Langston	Associate to the Advertising Director
Suzanne Karson	Distribution Secretary
Neil McGilvery	Treasurer
David Lanier	Director of Maintenance

Table of Contents
Editorial		3
No Solution to Revolution	by Wayne Hansen	5
Essay on the New Age, Number 12 ["All life is ruled by law..."]	by Mel Lyman	7
Threat	by Melinda Cohan	9
Antonioni's Newest Superstars	Part I of an Interview	10
Democracy	from The Sufi Message	17
A Policy of Peace Toward China	An Address By Senator Edward M. Kennedy	18
Portrait of Edward Kennedy	by Eben Given	19
ABM - Nixotic Quest For A Personal Potency	by Owen de Long	23
Letters to the Editor		24
The Box Poems	with an Introduction by Eben Given	28
Contemplations ["All that really matters in this life is a man's inner worth..."]	by Mel Lyman	42

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