Steve Conliff

Steve Conliff attended Miami University of Ohio, where he worked extensively with the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, known as "the mobe". It was during his time with the mobe that he began to question the effectiveness of "politics as usual" and at about the same time, met up with the Youth International Party (Yippies).Martin Jezer, Yippies and the Mobe, The Nation, October 3, 1988, Vol. 247 Issue 8, p 283-285 It was as a newly-converted Yippie that Conliff moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1970, briefly attending Ohio State University. Most of his activities revolved around politics and political organizing; he was a gifted and tireless organizer. One of his first experiences passing out anti-war leaflets at a local campus burger-joint got him arrested for vagrancy; he immediately challenged the constitutionality of the vagrancy laws as discriminatory against youth and poor people.{{Cite book|title=Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago, '68, to 1984| author=New Yippie Book Collective|isbn=9780912873008 |publisher=Bleecker Publishing|date=1983}}{{cite web|url=https://library.osu.edu/documents/university-archives/subject_files/Youth%20International%20Party%20(Yuppies).pdf|title=Vagrancy Law to be Tested|publisher=Ohio State Lantern|author=Konkoly, Jim|date=3 February 1972}}

In the summer of 1970, Steve Conliff started his first Yippie publication, Purple Berries—which later morphed into the publication Sour Grapes.[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-59mFy91Uz4A/UJAHPxOHCpI/AAAAAAAAIUo/NRnTVgI35l8/s1600/past3%2B031.JPG SOUR GRAPES cover] Youth International Party, Columbus, OH, 1974 Conliff was also one of the founders of the Columbus Free Press{{cite book|author=Steve Abbott|editor=Ken Wachsberger|title=Karl and Groucho's Marxist Dance : Insider Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press, Part 2 (Voices from the Underground)|date=April 1, 2012|isbn=978-1611860313|publisher=Michigan State University Press}} (to which he contributed up until his passing){{cite web|url=http://freepress.org/profile/steven-conliff|title=Articles by Steven Conliff|website=Columbus Free Press|date=2005}}{{cite web|url=http://freepress.org/departments/display/18/2006/1948|title=Remarks prepared for Annual Free Press Awards Dinner|author=Conliff, Steve|website=Columbus Free Press|access-date=2006-05-02}} and the public-education-critical Subversive Scholastic (1978–84).{{cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6632204|title=Subversive Scholastic|via=WorldCat.org|date=1978–84|oclc=6632204}}

[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3e/ff/b5/3effb583acf8037a52866330235640e3.jpg SUBVERSIVE SCHOLASTIC cover : May/June 1980] He regularly wrote for YIPster TimesYipsky, Leon, March to Disband the DEA, Yipster Times, June 1975 [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D_JfK47xhRI/WgMoojylMxI/AAAAAAAANco/qqInyS-UCE0YpArrqNSG_Ji63-TQzmjogCLcBGAs/s1600/yipstertimes.jpg Illustration : YIPSTER TIMES cover, June 1975] (1972–78), HVPTA / Bite Magazine (1978-80), and Overthrow (1979–98).*[https://pictures.abebooks.com/BOLERIUM/md/md10407089401.jpg OVERTHROW cover : Fall 1985] *** [https://pictures.abebooks.com/BLOLBC/md/md22649082438.jpg OVERTHROW cover : Spring 1986] credit: Bolerium Books In addition, Conliff's work also appeared in High Times,{{cite web|url=http://bondiviewertest.azurewebsites.net/DataView/Article/HT?issueKey=19790601&articleKey=19790601010|title=Kent State and Dealing|author=Conliff, Steve|publisher=High Times|date=June 1979}} News From Indian Country, Akwesasne Notes, Open Road,{{cite web|url=http://www.zisman.ca/openroad/1977-Spring/pages/P25.pdf |title=Everybody needs nobody sometimes|author=Conliff, Steve|publisher=Open Road|date=Spring 1977}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zisman.ca/openroad/1977-78%20Winter/pages/P8.pdf|title=Ohio: Getting down in the Streets|author= Conliff, Steve|publisher=Open Road|date=Winter 1978}} Take Over, Fifth Estate, In These Times and The Mohican News—among numerous other zines and underground newspapers, frequently writing under the pseudonym "Leon Yipsky." He helped launch countless other publications, and published the local magazine Columbus Entertainment (which focused on cultural diversity before it was fashionable) from 1986 to 1988.{{efn|name=Magazine|Not to be confused with the current magazine of the same name, which is its own entity.}} A tribal descendant, Conliff presented papers detailing Mohican Indian history on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation (2001) at the New York State Museum in Albany (2004).[https://archive.today/20130222161116/http://www.stevenconliff.net/about.html Steven E. Conliff (1949 - 2006)] He also contributed American Indian ethnography to Notable Native Americans (Gale 1995){{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/notablenativeame00shar|title=Notable Native Americans|author=Sharon Malinowski|publisher=Thomson Gale|date=1995|isbn=978-0810396388|url-access=registration}} and Volume 1 of the Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (Gale 1998).{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/galeencyclopedia0000unse_m7e2|title=GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, VOLUME 1: NORTHEAST, SOUTHEAST|author=Sharon Malinowski|publisher=Thomson Gale|date=1998|isbn=9780787610869|url-access=registration}}

Steve Conliff was an important leader of the Yippies' second wave,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/28/archives/yippies-exclude-hoffman-and-rubin-as-spokesmen.html|title=Yippies Exclude Hoffman And Rubin as Spokesmen|website=New York Times|date=28 November 1972}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/1/21/amid-washingtons-pomp-a-counter-inaugural-pwashington-less/|title=Amid Washington's Pomp, a 'Counter-Inaugural'|website=The Harvard Crimson|author=Cooperman, Alan|date=21 January 1981}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zisman.ca/openroad/1977-Fall/pages/P7.pdf |title=Come Pie With Me : the Creaming of America|author=Traynor, P.|publisher=Open Road|date=4 November 1977}} which included well-known activists such as Tom Forcade, Ben Masel,{{cite web|url=http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2011/05/ben-masel-1954-2011.html|title=Ben Masel 1954 - 2011|author=Deadhead, Daisy|website=Dead Air|date=12 May 2011 |access-date=2011-05-12}}(obituary of Yippie Ben Masel humorously describes Conliff's appearance on Missouri talk radio to get him out of jail) A.J. Weberman, Aron Kay (another famous pie thrower),{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/sep/29/mainsection.guardianletters|title=Dessert storm: the phantom flan flingers answer their critics|website=The Guardian|date=28 September 2005 |access-date=28 September 2005}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/throwing-custard-pies-looks-like-fun-its-also-art|title=Throwing Custard Pies Looks Like Fun. It's Also Art.|author=Anthony Haden-Guest|author-link=Anthony Haden-Guest|website=The Daily Beast|date=18 February 2018 |access-date=18 February 2018}} A comprehensive history of political pie-throwing; cites the Yippies at some length, mentions Conliff and interviews Kay. David Peel, and Dana Beal.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHIGQTGemnAC&q=steve+conliff+yippies&pg=PA113|title=The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate|author=James Rosen|author-link=James Rosen (journalist)|publisher=Doubleday|date=May 2008|isbn=978-0385508643|location=New York}} He was also the transatlantic coordinator of the Rock Against Racism USA campaign of 1979, helping to organize concerts in Columbus, Dayton, Madison, Detroit, Chicago, and New York City.Alice Torbush, Daisy Deadhead, Rock Against Racism USA - Tour Dates & Concert Calender, Overthrow/Yipster Times, p. 12-14, April 1979 [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A5t-Lv6hL0I/WgMo5mG3cfI/AAAAAAAANcs/NHUUwFOF0yQHPgZQp8HLz2g3ZaBv8plgQCLcBGAs/s1600/overthrow.png Illustration : Overthrow cover: ROCK AGAINST RACISM issue, April 1979]{{cite web|url=https://www.hyped2death.com/screamingurge.html|title=Screaming Urge : Impulse Control|author=Baby Lindy|website=Hyped to Death CD archives|access-date=20 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.brianwebster.com/RARUSA.html|title=Rock Against Racism USA|author=Webster, Brian|website=BrianWebster.com|publisher=Brian Webster and Associates|access-date=9 April 2018}}

Like Neal Cassady and similar charismatic personalities of the counterculture, it is hard to quantify the nearly-metaphysical impact Steve Conliff had on activists around him; besides storytelling and history-keeping, his great gifts were to inspire, encourage and engage.{{cite web|url=http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-wish-someone-would-phone-or-real.html|title=I wish someone would phone|website=Dead Air|author=Deadhead, Daisy|date=16 January 2008 |access-date=2008-01-16}}{{cite web|url=https://freepress.org/article/steve-conliff-legend-has-passed-away-his-spirit-us|title=Steve Conliff: A legend has passed away but his spirit is with us|author=Fitrakis, Bob|website=Columbus Free Press|access-date=2006-06-01}}{{cite web|url=https://www.comfest.com/uploads/72/File/documents/2006_program_guide.pdf|publisher=ComFest : Community Festival, Columbus, Ohio - cultivating Peace, Love, Music and Art since 1972 (festival program : June 23, 24, 25, 2006)|title=In Memoriam : Steve Conliff (page 63)|website=ComFest|author=Connie Everett, Paul Volker|date=June 2006|access-date=2017-12-29|archive-date=2016-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717134033/http://www.comfest.com/uploads/72/File/documents/2006_program_guide.pdf|url-status=dead}}

File:Smokeinposter.jpg-sponsored Smoke-In at Ohio State University, April 29, 1978. This event also served as an unofficial "Conliff for Governor" rally.]]

Steve Conliff's decision to throw a pie at Governor Rhodes was due to Rhodes' direct role in the Kent State shootings;{{cite web|url=http://www.gp.org/four_still_dead_in_ohio|title=Four Still Dead in Ohio|website=gp.org|publisher=Green Party of the United States|author=Fitrakis, Bob|access-date=3 May 2018}} particularly 1) the ordering of Ohio National Guard troops onto campus, and 2) his angry speech given the day before the shootings (May 3, 1970) to assembled news media. Rhodes' infamous speech was said to inflame conservatives as well as the guardsmen occupying campus, thereby lighting the fuse of an already-incendiary situation:

We have seen here at the City of Kent especially, probably the most vicious form of campus-oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups and their allies in the State of Ohio ... these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize a community. They're worse than the Brown Shirts and the communist element and also the Night Riders and the vigilantes. They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. And I want to say that they're not going to take over the campus. And the campus now is going to be part of the County and the State of Ohio.{{cite web|url=https://www.library.kent.edu/ksu-may-4-rhodes-speech-may-3-1970|title=KSU May 4 Rhodes Speech, May 3, 1970 : Governor Rhodes Speech on campus disorders in Kent, May 3, 1970|website=Kent State University Special Collections and Archives|publisher=Kent State University|access-date=October 13, 2017|archive-date=October 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014040317/https://www.library.kent.edu/ksu-may-4-rhodes-speech-may-3-1970|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|author=James Michener|author-link=James Michener|title=Kent State : What Happened and Why (chapter: The Governor Moves In)|pages=225–232|publisher=Random House|date=1971|isbn=978-0394471990}}

After pieing Rhodes and the generally-positive reaction,{{cite web|url=http://bondiviewertest.azurewebsites.net/DataView/Article/HT?issueKey=19771201&articleKey=19771201178|title=Pie Times for Pols|publisher=High Times|author=Shushnick, Irving|date=December 1977|access-date=2017-10-24|archive-date=2017-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024095703/http://bondiviewertest.azurewebsites.net/DataView/Article/HT?issueKey=19771201&articleKey=19771201178|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://digital.libraries.uc.edu/collections/newsrecord/1978/1978_01_27.pdf|title=Pressnotes, the State : Pie-throwing presented as Constitutional|author=Fetcher, Doug|author2= Maxwell, Duane|website=University of Cincinnati Digital Collections|publisher=The News Record (University of Cincinnati)|page=5|date=27 January 1978}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/21/archives/around-the-nation-stricken-travelers-seek-medical-aid-ending-hunt.html|title=Around the Nation - Special to the New York Times|work=The New York Times|date=21 May 1978}} Conliff decided to run for governor against Rhodes, as a Republican.{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/greenville-daily-advocate-mar-24-1978-p-1/|title=June Primary Candidates File|author=Tyo, Aleene|publisher=Greenville Daily Advocate|date=24 March 1978}}Rhodes Only Major Officeholder Facing Primary Foe, editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, 26 March 1978{{cite web|url=http://mattdole.com/1962-gov/|title=OHIO GOVERNOR ELECTION RESULTS 1962-1990|website=Ohio Politicals|author=Miering, Michael|access-date=18 January 2018|archive-date=19 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119175452/http://mattdole.com/1962-gov/|url-status=dead}} This campaign was not treated very seriously by Ohio media, but gave Conliff access to various conservative venues in which he delivered anti-war, anti-capitalist and pro-marijuana speeches to decidedly-unfriendly audiences with aplomb, which he seemed to enjoy:

Yippie Conliff says he's too young to serve as governor even if elected, but sees no problem with the state not having a governor.Wilson, Steve, Field Pared As Primary Deadline Passes, Cincinnati Enquirer, 24 March 1978

One of Conliff's continuing characters throughout his work was an alter ego, "the Leader of the Street People", named Zorba the Freak. Zorba liked to dish about other Yippies (who often recognized themselves in his stories) and became locally legendary, as well as an inside joke among the Yippies. According to Columbus poet-activist Steve Abbott:

In journalism, historically, columnists have created alter egos who they supposedly interview but who speak for them. Finley Peter Dunne did Mr. Dooley. Mike Royko did Slats Grobnik. And William Raspberry always had the taxicab driver in Washington. Conliff had someone called Zorba the Freak—incredibly funny, incredibly well-written pieces that combine satire and commentary.

With Dana Beal and the New Yippie Book Collective, Conliff published the 733-page anthology Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago 1968 to 1984, foreword by William Kunstler. Steve Conliff wrote over half of this volume, a detailed chronicle of specific Yippie actions all over the world (in the middle section titled "The Dreaded Yippie Curse") and a colorful collection of underground posters, jeremiads, essays, news clippings, comics, photos, articles, reviews and other counter-cultural history.

Conliff met artist Suzan Bird in 1970, while she was working in the hippie enclave of Pearl Alley, adjacent to the OSU campus:

He was selling Purple Berries, and he would come by E.G. Leather on Pearl Alley trying to get ads. It was one of the old hippie shops. I worked there at the time, so I would sit on the porch and talk to him, and we got to know each other fairly well just sitting and chatting.

Steve Conliff died of lung cancer on June 1, 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=steven-edwin-conliff&pid=17967215|title=Steven Edwin Conliff (obituary)|website=Legacy.com|publisher=Columbus Dispatch|date=June 2006}}

• We Are Not McGovernable: What Cronkite Didn't Tell You about the '72 Democratic Convention - Youth International Party, 1972{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fb4oGwAACAAJ|title=We are Not McGovernable!: What Cronkite Didn't Tell You about the '72 Democratic Convention|author=Steve Conliff|publisher=Youth International Party|date=1972}}
• Purple Berries and Sour Grapes - Ohio YIP periodicals, 1970-1974
• Subversive Scholastic 1978–1984
• Peace in Persia - Poetry inspired by the Iran hostage crisis, 1981
• Zeitgeist: The Ballad of Tom Forcade - A lyric 'epic' poem first published in full in Blacklisted News—has been excerpted numerous times as an obituary for Forcade and the "Zippies" (Zeitgeist International Party) -- the radical breakaway Yippie faction that demonstrated at the 1972 Republican and Democratic Conventions in Miami Beach.
• Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago, '68, to 1984 - Bleecker Publishing, 1983
• Chief Buffalo and The Green Arm - Two novels uploaded to the free internet in the early 00s, now unavailable, circa 2003
• 8060 Olentangy River Road{{cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/677096485|title=8060 Olentangy River Road, Delaware, Ohio, 43015 : a fragmentary presentation of the prehistory and history of a parcel of land in the northern suburbs of Columbus, Ohio|via=WorldCat.org|date=2010|isbn=9780557469543|oclc=677096485}} posthumously published, 2010

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://freepress.org/article/steve-conliff-legend-has-passed-away-his-spirit-us Steve Conliff: A legend has passed away but his spirit is with us]
• [https://archive.today/20130222161116/http://www.stevenconliff.net/about.html Steven E. Conliff 1949 - 2006]
• [https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914c54cadd7b049347d3389 STATE v. CONLIFF : 28 December 1978 | COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO]
• [https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QrzNfSLHno8/WgNi8qK7psI/AAAAAAAANeA/f_s95umAR6YRwEboDVuT3EPjoqkDqMsqACLcBGAs/s1600/steveconliffrockagainstreagan.jpg PHOTO : Steve Conliff making speech at Rock Against Reagan concert, Ohio State House, April 30, 1983] (Yippie archives)
• [https://www.hakes.com/SaleList/ItemDetail/40614/YIPPIE-ISSUED-KENT-STATE-RELATED-ANTI-OHIO-GOVERNOR-PIE-IN-FACE-BUTTON YIPPIE ISSUED KENT STATE RELATED ANTI OHIO GOVERNOR PIE IN FACE BUTTON]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conliff, Steven}}

Category:Yippies

Category:1949 births

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Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Ohio

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Category:Activists from Ohio

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Category:American political writers

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Category:Mohican people