We close out this week remembering yet another member of our literary community: poet and activist John Sinclair, who passed away on April 2nd at the age of 82. Famously enshrined in song by John Lennon as being "in the stir / for breathing air" (trust us, that rhymes), Sinclair became a figurehead for the marijuana legalization movement after being arrested in 1969 for giving two joints to an undercover cop.
His wildly disproportionate sentence of 8½–10 years resulted in public outrage and vocal protest culminating in 1971 with "Ten for Two: The John Sinclair Freedom Rally," a benefit concert in Ann Arbor featuring an astounding line-up of musicians — Bob Seger, Phil Ochs, Archie Shepp, and Stevie Wonder along with Lennon and Yoko Ono — and political figures Bobby Seale and Jerry Rubin, which resulted in his release. One other notable participant at the rally was poet Allen Ginsberg, whose "Prayer for John Sinclair," written for and performed with Peter Orlovsky at the event, was released on a split single with Michigan psyche-rock group UP the same year. You can hear this track on PennSound's Ginsberg author page or by clicking this link: [MP3]
While typically this is where we'd close by offering our condolences, perhaps it's more fitting to say that we'll gladly fire one up in Sinclair's memory.
