Warren Hinckle and the Glory that was Ramparts

[James DiEugenio]

Warren Hinckle passed away about 12 days ago.

In reviewing the death notices I could not believe how many ignored or discounted his stewardship of the legendary Ramparts magazine, the only glossy mass circulation zine that put the JFK case on its over more than once. Three times as far as i can tell.

For that reason, and many others, I consider it the last great American glossy zine. And I extend that to the stillborn online revolution of the likes of Huffpo, Daily Kos and TPM.

If you never knew Ramparts you missed something memorable and exciting. Please read and you will begin to understand what that was.

http://www.ctka.net/2016/hinckle/hinckle.html

[James DiEugenio]

One of the of the reasons I wrote this was to try and point out what a huge disappointment the so called online revolution was. Or blogosphere or whatever you want to call it was.

Try and find anything about the JFK case, or any of the at TPM, Huffpo, Daily Kos etc.

This really surprised me and indicated that these guys really wanted to replace the MSM, not forge a revolution in journalism by telling the truth about America. They even employ censorship to keep posters in line.

Question: Why would anyone want to be the new MSM?

Warren Hinckle sure didn't. He wanted to tell the truth and put the JFK case on the cover three time.

[Douglas Caddy]

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Ramparts-1973nov-00012

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks for that Doug.

I am pretty sure that this site has the whole catalog of back issues for what I called the last great American magazine, Ramparts.

Which makes it invaluable. I mean, just the artwork on the covers was something. But then when you get to the contents? I mean amazing.

I am pretty sure that the first articles ever published about NSAM 263 were in Ramparts.

[Douglas Caddy]

Another great one:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Ramparts-1966nov-00039

[James DiEugenio]

Doug:

In the research I did for my article on HInckle, I am pretty sure that this was the first essay that Ramparts featured on the JFK case, and they also put it on the cover.

Can you imagine a glossy mass circulation magazine putting the work of Penn Jones on the cover? That is how great Ramparts was. And how gutsy HInckle was.

BTW, the guy who did the actual writing on this, David Welsh, is also the guy who HInckle set to work with Lifton in another featured essay Ramparts would do, I think just two months later. That one was much more oriented toward the ballistics, medical and eyewitness testimony. It was illustrated and annotated. It began with something like this: No less than three men fired upon the president's motorcade as it drove through Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. (The direct quote is in my article.)

Penn Jones and David Lifton in the space of three months.

No wonder the CIA got so pissed off.

Edited September 9, 2016 by James DiEugenio

[James DiEugenio]

How about this one for a cover:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Ramparts-1968jan-00043

Jim Garrison calling out President Johnson and putting that on the cover of your magazine?

I actually remember this one on the newsstand and thinking, words to the effect, who are these guys? Man are they gutsy.