John Muir (engineer)
John Muir (1918–1977) was an aerospace engineer who worked for Lockheed, who "dropped out," 1960s-style, to become a long-haired car mechanic with a garage in Taos, New Mexico, specializing in maintenance and repair of Volkswagens.[1] He is a descendant of naturalist John Muir.
[edit] How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive
In 1969, Muir collaborated with cartoonist Peter Aschwanden to create the definitive manual for Volkswagen owners entitled How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive; A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot. Entirely hand-lettered with intricate hand-drawn illustrations, Muir's self-published edition sold more than two million copies to become one of the most successful self-published books in history, while its wry subtitle preceded (and likely inspired) the unending flow of "for Dummies" books from IDG Publishing, and other "idiot's guide to..." books. Presently, the 19th Edition, with updated material by Tosh Gregg, remains widely available.[2]
Although first published at the end of the 1960s, the Volkswagen was an iconic 1960s vehicle, and in retrospect this book is iconic of hippies' funky do-it-yourself, make-do culture.
Muir's second book, published in 1973, The Velvet Monkeywrench, was an ambitious attempt to, as Muir put it, "lay out this structure, the bones of a completely new establishment," a proposal that included detailed plans for the replacement of the United States of America with the Republic of North America.[3] The book remains available from Ocean Tree Books.[4]
[edit] Death
Muir died of a brain tumor in 1977, just short of his 59th birthday. After his death, the publishing rights to How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive; A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot were assigned to Avalon Travel Publishing.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ http://books.google.mu/books?id=Lh3l3E94JUQC&pg=PA118&dq=muir+velvet+monkeywrench#PPA116,M1
- ^ Patton, Phil, Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile, 2002, Simon and Schuster, pp. 116-119.
- ^ Muir, John, The Velvet Monkeywrench, 1973, John Muir Publications, p. 6
- ^ oceantree.com
- ^ avalontravelbooks.com
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