Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle
A predecessor to zines and a classic example of 1960s self-published, mimeographed literature, the Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle was a radical poetry newspaper created and distributed in Cleveland from 1967 to 1969. The paper was the brainchild of Cleveland poet d.a. levy (1942-1968), a larger than life figure that championed free speech and helped to foster a burgeoning Ohio poetry community. Akin to Schwitters' Merz, the Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle is significant not only as a forum for underground and peripheral artists and writers, but also as a typographical document. The newspaper employed a number of Dadaist and Surrealist strategies, such as collage and the appearance of strange, grotesque drawings in the margins, making each issue itself a work of art. levy's publishing efforts included not only the Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle, but also a number of books written by his friends and fellow Cleveland poets. Hounded by obscenity charges leveled by the Cleveland authorities, and plagued by personal issues, levy tragically took his own life at just 26 years old.
