Item #6164 Helix Vol. III No. 5, April 11, 1968 Helix - KRAB Media Mash with Duvall Piano Drop. JOURNALISM - Underground Press - Seattle, Paul DORPAT, Walt Crowley John Cunnick.
Helix Vol. III No. 5, April 11, 1968 Helix - KRAB Media Mash with Duvall Piano Drop
Helix Vol. III No. 5, April 11, 1968 Helix - KRAB Media Mash with Duvall Piano Drop
Helix Vol. III No. 5, April 11, 1968 Helix - KRAB Media Mash with Duvall Piano Drop

Helix Vol. III No. 5, April 11, 1968 Helix - KRAB Media Mash with Duvall Piano Drop

Seattle: Helix, 1968. Walt Crowley (cover), Hilaire. First Printing. Tabloid Newspaper. Tabloid printed on newsprint measuring 11.5 x 16 inches. Pp. 24. Covers and centerfold spread printed in colors. Mild age toning around the edges, lightly rubbed, no creases, edges crisp. Very Good+. Item #6164

An early issue of the Seattle underground bi-weekly (that transitioned to a weekly in September 1969) with the cover broadcasting the infamous Duvall Piano Drop, where nearly 3,000 attendees watched a piano dropped from a helicopter on a farm owned by Larry Van Over, accompanied by Country Joe and the Fish. The event was part of the Helix Media Mash in conjunction with radio station KRAB FM. Issue also includes an interview with Jeff Poland,founder of Sexual Freedom League, a protest in Bellingham, a Happening at Mrs. Bagley Wright's [Virginia Bloedel] art gallery, a Dump Truck Baby comic strip by John Cunick, and Giovanni Costigan on the death of Martin Luther King Jr.. Featuring ads for albums by Spanky & Our Gang, Iron Butterfly, Murray Roman and several others.

In late spring 1967, Helix joined a burgeoning underground press then including groundbreaking alternative papers the East Village Other, the Los Angeles Free Press, the Fifth Estate and the Berkeley Barb. Founded by Paul Sawyer, Paul Dorpat and Lorenzo Milam, it sprang from their intellectual fervor at the Free University, an alternative thinktank they also founded. Eventually star-illustrator Walt Crowley assumed editorship.

A pebble in the shoe of Seattle establishment, the "hip rag" brought attention to civic injustice by rallying its youthful readership to activism. The apogee of that effort followed the 1970 killing of students at Kent State: over the course of May 5-8, Helix organized protests that blocked US Interstate 5 while marching between the University District and rallies at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle. Early issues are increasingly scarce. This issue is housed in a removable, clear sleeve with an acid-free backing.

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Price: $75.00