Jim Haynes: Counterculture Icon of the 1960s in the U.K.
Jim Haynes
Jim Haynes (James Almand Haynes) was born in Louisiana, the USA in November 1933. He grew up in the U.S. and graduated from Louisiana University. After his graduation, Jim started serving for the U.S Airforce in a station located in Scotland. He decided to drop out of the military service in order to study at Edinburg University.
Jim Haynes spent the majority of his life in the U.K. and moved to Paris where he lived until his death. He is considered to be the representative of the beat culture in the U.K. due to his various activities and contributions to the British culture especially in the 1960 and the 1970s.
Counterculture in the U.K. and Jim Haynes
The counterculture of the 1960s spread rapidly in the Western countries especially backed by the Civil Rights movement, the post-WWII impact, and the theoretical and social developments in some aspects like ethnicity and gender. The underground movement, the beatnik attitude, the hippies' impact was spreading all around Western Europe and the U.K. had the majority of its young citizens influenced by these movements. Jim Haynes, along with others, played a great role in leading these movements in the U.K.
List of some of Jim Haynes' Foundations and Contributions to British Culture
Opening a Paperback Bookstore - Edinburgh, 1958
Jim Haynes opened a Paperback Bookshop located in George Square, Edinburgh. He started selling hard copies of some of the banned books such as Lady Chatterley's Lover. In the 1960s, a woman bought a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover and burnt it in front of the bookstore in order to protest the obscenity in the book and the illegal distribution of such books after the Censorship in the United Kingdom.
Co-production of Infamous Writers Conference - Edinburgh, 1962
The Infamous Writers Conference got the attention of multiple writers from abroad. Jim Haynes helped them to find accommodation for their stays during the conference. William S. Burroughs, Norman Mailer, and Lawrence Durrell were among these writers.
Co-production of Drama Conference - Edinburgh, 1963
With the contributions of John Calder and Richard DeMarco, Jim Haynes managed to challenge the Scottish theatre and this conference was an influence for Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Co-founding of The Traverse Theatre - Edinburgh, 1963
Currently located in Cambridge, The Traverse Theatre was co-founded by Jim Haynes, Kenneth Tynan, and John Calder. The theatre was busy almost every day and the plays put on stage were pushing the limits of certain censorship laws, including nudity. Only nude mannequins were allowed on the stage, therefore, a woman actress was put on wheels in a still posture and moved across the stage in 1985. Similar fringe shows were put on stage, which supported the counterculture acts in British society.
Co-production of Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Edinburgh, 1963
Jim Haynes, Ricardo Demarco, and John Calder established the Fringe together, which inspired Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The festival is still considered as one of the most successful art events in the world as it celebrates countercultural forms of art.
Co-founding of International Times - London, 1966
International Times was a counterculture newspaper that included many articles, images, ads, and entries related to underground literature and culture along with celebrating gay liberation, alternative music events, sexual content with obscenity, and much more controversial social issues of the 60s and the 70s.
Co-founding of Arts Lab, London, 1968
As its name also suggests, Arts Lab was serving as a laboratory to produce underground, avant-garde, and countercultural forms of art, music, acts, and events. Arts Lab was the first place where John Lennon had his first joint exhibition with Yoko Ono. David Bowie used Arts Lab to practice his guitar while he was still called David Robert Jones. Arts Lab was an alternative art center that welcomed all countercultural artists, musicians, actors, and actresses.
Co-production of SUCK - Amsterdam, 1969
SUCK was produced in Amsterdam, however, it was the first pornographic magazine published in Europe and many copies of it were illegally distributed among European youth, including British.
SUCK organizing the Wet Dream Film Festival, Amsterdam, 1979
The Wet Dream Film Festival was a sensational festival and it was organized by Jim Haynes. This film festival was strictly criticized by conservatives and the films were banned in the U.K. back in 1970 and 1971.
Further Information on Jim Haynes
His life in Paris
Jim Haynes moved to Paris at the age of 36 where he lived until his death. He taught Sexual Politics and Media Studies at the University of Paris. He started hosting Sunday dinners that welcomed at least 100 people each week. During these dinners, Jim Haynes managed to bring different people from all around the world together to discuss anything related to life, culture, and art. Jim Haynes died on the 6th of January in 2021 and he kept hosting these dinners until he passed away.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Since the first festival, Jim Haynes attended this event every year along with his closest friends. This festival took place every year in August. Jim Haynes had a heart attack on his way to the festival in 2011 and still managed to attend the festival.
World Citizenship
In the 1970s, Jim Haynes started printing his own "World Passports" for himself and his friends in order to cross borders as a "World Citizen". These fake passports allowed him and many beholders to travel from one country to another as they were written in multiple official languages and looked like valid passports with serial numbers.
"Godfather of Social Networking"
Jim Haynes is called the "Godfather of Social Networking" due to his life-long attempts of bringing people together even before the current social networking facilities were available. People from all different backgrounds came together at the events he organized.
"People to People Guidebooks"
During the festivals, events, or dinners, Jim met thousands of people from all over the world. He had hand-written notebooks named as different countries which had personal contact information of the people with their professions and passions noted down. He shared these with the people he met to make sure that if they travel there, they will have a chance to meet like-minded people who can help them during their stays.
"Meeting Jim" by Ece Ger
In 2018, Turkish director Ece Ger filmed a biographical documentary based on Jim Haynes' life.
References
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