Ed McClanahan papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains drafts of Spit in the Ocean # 7, the book that Ed McClanahan edited as a tribute to Ken Kesey, as well as papers McClanahan acquired during his research on Kesey and Spit in the Ocean. A significant portion of these materials consists of correspondence written by Kesey and associates to Doug Simon, largely focusing on the magazine Spit in the Ocean, a literary magazine of which Kesey produced six issues. Simon helped in the production of the magazine by designing some of the cover displays, and layouts. Also included is correspondence between McClanahan and contributors to Spit in the Ocean #7.
For related materials, see The Beat & Little Magazine Collection (LL SE), located in the Art Book Room. This collection follows the Beat Movement in American literature and history. It includes primary sources such as 2,300 books and pamphlets, 1,400 Beat magazines, 150 anthologies and approximately 35 broadsides and posters. This original collection was strengthened by a second gift from the Caine Foundation, the "Little Magazine" collection, which expands and compliments the Beat Collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1970-2005
Language of Materials
Material in English
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Ed McClanahan papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives Department Head.
Biographical Note
Ed McClanahan was born in Brooksville, Kentucky in 1932. He received a bachelor’s degree from Miami (Ohio) University in 1955 and a master’s at the University of Kentucky in 1958. McClanahan was a professor of English and creative writing at Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Montana, the University of Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky University. Some of McClanahan’s novels include The Natural Man, Famous People I have Known, and A Congress of Wonders. McClanahan’s writing has been published in magazines such as Esquire, Rolling Stone, and Playboy, and he is a two time winner of Playboy’s Best Non-Fiction Award as well as a recipient of the Wallace Stegner Fellowship.
While McClanahan was at Stanford he became a close friend of Ken Kesey, the founder of the Merry Pranksters. After Kesey’s death, as a tribute to him, McClanahan edited a final issue of Kesey’s magazine Spit in the Ocean. He titled it Spit in the Ocean # 7: All About Kesey, and it was published in 2003. McClanahan currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky with his wife Hilda. There he continues his work as a writer .
Ken Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado in 1935. At age eleven, his family moved to Springfield, Oregon. Kesey received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon before studying creative writing at Stanford University in the 1950s under Wallace Stegner. While at Stanford he participated in U.S. Army experiments with the drug LSD. He drew upon this experience to publish his most successful book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1962. In 1964 he published another successful novel entitled Sometimes a Great Notion.
Kesey was well known for his nonconformist and activist views. He bridged the gap between the countercultural beat generation of the 1950s, and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey and his band of friends called themselves the Merry Pranksters and are best known for their 1964 cross-country journey on a multicolored bus in 1964. The Pranksters saw psychoactive drug use as a break from conformity and a path to individual liberation. The Merry Pranksters included Kesey, his close friend Ken Babbs, Kentucky writer Ed McClanahan, Neal Cassady, Carolyn Adams, and others. After serving a short term in jail for drug use in 1965, Kesey moved to farm near Pleasant Hill, Oregon. There he continued to publish his writings. He wrote several articles for Rolling Stone, and with his associates published the magazine, Spit in the Ocean. In 1992, Kesey published a third novel, Sailor Song. He died on November 10, 2001.
Extent
5 boxes (3.75 linear feet)
Abstract
This collection contains drafts of Spit in the Ocean # 7, the book that Ed McClanahan edited as a tribute to Ken Kesey, as well as papers McClanahan acquired during his research on Kesey and
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were donated to USU Special Collections and Archives in April 2005 by Ed McClanahan.
Processing Information
Processed in April of 2014.
- Title
- Guide to the Ed McClanahan papers 1970-2005
- Author
- Finding aid/Register created by David Bolingbroke and Clint Pumphrey
- Date
- ©2014
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English.
Revision Statements
- 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu