JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

David Letterman interviewed John Keel on July 28, 1980.  They discussed forteana, strange rains, creature sightings — and a cast of a Bigfoot footprint.  Letterman was more curious than dismissive, and John did a great job.  And you can watch it here.

Again, thanks to Anthony Matt and Angela Alverson for technical help.

ADDENDUM:  As Loren Coleman has pointed out, the footprint cast in this clip was actually made by Edward Shipton in Nepal.  It has a troubled history: see here for photos of it, as well as some of the charges of hoaxing.  As was often the case, John made factual errors; the evidence in question is suspect; and he nevertheless made a great case for a Fortean perspective within a mainstream context.  The fact that Forteana is riddled with errors and hoaxes just goes with the territory — and, of course, errors and hoaxes are not unique to Forteana!

Here’s another collaboration between Ed Lord and John Keel: a film portrait of the artists’ community in Provincetown, Mass.  Ed Lord made the film; John provided the narration.  He even recites some of the poetry of Harry Kemp, the “Tramp Poet” of Greenwich Village.

All we had to work with was a video dub of what I assume was an 8mm original.  It’s a bit jumpy at the start; but it settles down soon.  Click here to see it.

The photo above shows John in Provincetown in  August 1963.  And that may have been around the time the film was made.

Thanks to Anthony Matt and Angela Alverson for technical help.

I’ve posted another of the films John that made with Ed Lord.  This one’s called “On Exhibition”; and features John as a bleary drunk confronting the exhibits in the Museum of Modern Art.  John was a teetotaller; which makes his drunk act even more amusing.  The film was a bit too long for YouTube, so I’ve split it in two.  Thanks to Angela Alverson for technical help.  I hope you enjoy it!

Greg Sullivan passed this along — from a copy of Operation Trojan Horse.

Today is John Keel’s birthday.  He was five years old when this photo was taken; if he were alive today, he’d be 81.  We miss him.

To mark the occasion, Anthony Matt and I (Doug Skinner) will chat about his life and work on “In Other News,” hosted by Geoff Brady on WBAI, on Monday, March 28, at 10 pm.  WBAI is at 99.5 FM in NYC, or at wbai.org.

My last birthday present to John was a deck of World War 2 airplane spotter cards.  “I can still identify all these planes,” he said.

ADDENDUM:  Our appearance on “In Other News” is archived here.

And here’s the inscription for the second “Harry Gibbs” novel, Town Tease.

John was surprised that I’d found a copy of his “Harry Gibbs” novel, Three Women. Here’s what he wrote in it.

The blog of the British journal Magonia has posted an interesting article it first ran in 2002, on Keel’s reception from the various factions of ufology.  It can be found here.  And thanks to Greg Sullivan for pointing it out.

John Keel’s book inscriptions were prized by his fans.  I’ll scan some for your enjoyment; here’s how he signed my copy of Jadoo.

A memento of John’s military career.