Author and Conspiracy Theorist Kenn Thomas Passes Away

St. Louis area resident and author Kenn Thomas, born June 12, 1958, passed away on September 22, 2023. He was a former university librarian and archivist, and a conspiracy writer, and editor/publisher of Steamshovel Press, a parapolitical conspiracy theory magazine.

Kenn was a friend of many writers, including Jim Keith, Greg Bishop, Paul Kimball, Adam Gorightly, Jim Martin, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Adam Parfrey, Jim Marrs, Mae Brussell, Tim Binnall, Kevin Nealon, Ron Bonds, Stephen Miles Lewis, Robert Sterling, Robert Guffey, and, me, Loren Coleman.   Kenn also had various close relationship with some powerful women writers and thinkers (e.g. Acharya and Alfvegren). He saw many friends, male and female, die early.

            I was involved with one of Kenn’s St Louis area conferences in 1999, and we visited local Fortean sites such as Piasa Rock in Alton and the nearby “name-game” haunted location at the Beall House.

Thomas wrote over a dozen books on various conspiracy topics, including NASA, Nazis & JFK; Maury Island UFO, about the possibility that Fred Crisman was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, about the Inslaw affair. In 2004, Feral House published a new edition of The Octopus, extending the suggestion of connections to the post-September 11 attacks world and al-Qaeda. A new edition of Maury Island UFO was published by Feral House in 2011 as JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas.

Thomas called his research interest "parapolitics," the study of conspiracies of all colors—from alien abductions and the Illuminati, to the John F. Kennedy assassination and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The New Yorker called his work "on the cutting edge" of conspiracy. His name has become a by-word for a conspiracy theorist; enough so that baseball was described in print as involving "enough fishy behavior to keep Kenn Thomas swarming for years,"(Baseball Prospectus 2002).

On September 16, 2016, Kenn wrote what his semi-retirement was revealing:

Kenn Thomas traveled extensively during the 1980s and 1990s to speak about his conspiracy, assassination, and Fortean interests. Thomas appeared at Conspiracy Con in 2003 and 2007.

Beth, Kenn's ex-wife wrote the following for the public:

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“ Kenn and I met in high school, in 9th grade history class (or maybe it was English class - you think you’ll never forget this stuff). We didn’t become friends until 11th grade journalism class. We became close in our senior year when I was the editor of the school paper and he wrote and drew a comic strip for it, the originals of which I still have. We stayed friends after high school and started dating during college. We moved in together at some point and got married when we were 25. We had two children before divorcing in 2001. When he got sick a few years ago, I stepped in to help our kids manage his chronic health issues. We had been a part of each other’s lives for nearly 50 years when he died Friday morning at Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital.

He fell almost two weeks ago while at dialysis. The details are murky, which I suspect may be due to the dialysis staff not wanting to admit responsibility, but that’s a story (and maybe an investigation) for another day. He hit his head so hard, it knocked him out, and he was taken to Mercy Hospital by ambulance. He spent two days in the ICU with a hematoma and a brain bleed. They stopped his blood thinners, which helped, and the doctors were optimistic, so they sent him to rehab. Simon visited him, and he seemed like his old self and was upbeat about getting better and going home.

If you knew Kenn, you may remember him as a charming and super bright dude who could talk about anything - music, politics, comic books, and (his favorite) conspiracies. He was probably a polymath, meaning he was talented in so many areas and could pick up new skills seemingly effortlessly. He was a writer, an artist, a researcher. He had a master’s in English and could understand and explain even the densest literary works (Pynchon was his favorite). He took an acting class once and blew everyone away with his portrayal of Cardinal Wolsey.

He was a gifted speaker with a DJ’s voice and in fact worked at KWMU on the weekends for a few years when they still played music. He reviewed rock concerts for the Post-Dispatch and the Globe-Democrat and co-hosted a music and talk show with Phil Gounis on KDHX in its early on-air days, where they mostly played Dylan but also talked about other music and books. He was part of a small but (obsessively) devoted local group of Dylan diehards who saw every concert (and recorded many of them in the early days). He loved the Beat poets and Timothy Leary and could claim something of a friendly connection to William Burroughs, who he spoke about - and accepted the honor for - when Burroughs was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1990 because Burroughs was too frail to travel to his hometown. If all goes according to plan, Kenn will be buried near Burroughs at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Kenn worked for the University of Missouri for almost 40 years before retiring in 2019. He never really loved the archives/historical manuscripts career field, but he made it work for him, while also writing and lecturing about conspiracy stories and publishing a magazine, “Steamshovel Press.” He loved his children and his dogs and old TV shows (Hogan's Heroes was a favorite) and resisted going into a nursing home or assisted living because it would have meant living without his books, records, and comic books, which to him was not living at all.

Over the last three years, it has taken a team of folks to take care of him, and I want to give them a grateful and loving shout-out: Jeffrey Von Behren, Nancy Von Behren, Alan and Norm (not on FB), Jerry Durrwachter, Douglas Jake Jacobs (and Kathy). His sisters Mary Thomas-Turner and Bridget Bueltemeyer, despite battling their own health issues, have been the emotional support we needed, and his niece Jackie Turner worked on his house when he needed it. We will miss him forever. If you have a story or remembrance, please share it in the comments below. He leaves behind his children, Sara and Simon, his sisters, Mary and Bridget, three nieces, Michelle, Jackie, and Brandey, two nephews, Luke and Anthony, and a multitude of friends from across the globe. Kenneth Francis Thomas: June 12, 1958, to September 22, 2023."

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Thomas had been involved in several books that have impacted the conspiracy thoughts in the United States.

 

Selected Bibliography:
Acid: A New Secret History of LSD, David Black (introduction by Kenn Thomas), Vision, UK, 2003.
The Arch Conspirator, Len Bracken (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 1999.
The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, Acharya S (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 1999.
Cyberculture Counterconspiracy: A Steamshovel Web Reader, Book Tree, US, 2000.
Inside the Gemstone File, Kenn Thomas and David Childress, AUP, US, 1999.
The Little Book of Conspiracies: A Paranoiac's Pocket Guide, Joel Levy (introduction by Kenn Thomas), Thunder's Mouth, US, 2005.
Maury Island UFO: The Crisman Conspiracy, IllumiNet, US, 1999.
Mind Control, Oswald & JFK, AUP, US, 1997.
NASA, Nazis & JFK: The Torbitt Document & the Kennedy Assassination, Adventures Unlimited Press, US, 1996.
The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, with Jim Keith, Feral House, US, 2005.
Parapolitics: Conspiracy in Contemporary America, AUP, US, 2006.
Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader, IllumiNet, US, 1995.
Popular Paranoia: A Steamshovel Press Anthology, AUP, US, November 2002.

Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer, Timothy Green Beckley (with contribution by Kenn Thomas), Global Communications, 2011.
Saucers of the Illuminati, Jim Keith (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 2004.
Secret and Suppressed II: Banned Ideas and Hidden History into the 21st Century, Feral House, US, 2008.
Shadow Government: 9/11 and State Terror, Len Bracken (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 2002.

Trumpocalypse Now!, Adventures Unlimited Press, 2017.
William Cooper: Death Of A Conspiracy Salesman, various with contribution from Kenn Thomas, Inner Light, US, 2001.

Kenn’s beloved Charlie, his service dog, assisted him greatly during the last few years. Sending treats and dog toys to Charlie was my way to support Kenn’s journey through his dark days.

“Remember it is in love that we are made and in love we disappear.💙” ~ Kenn Thomas, 2022.

Red Pill Junkie | Miguel Romero has written a worthy tribute you should read.

https://www.dailygrail.com/2023/09/farewell-to-parapolitics-trailblazer-kenn-thomas-1958-2023/

Groundhog Day, Anniversary Syndrome, and the Houston-Brown Drownings

As many of you know, an area of academic research I’ve conducted involves the sociological and historical impact and the mystery of death and dying among humans. I have done work and written books on suicides, suicide prevention, murder-suicide timing, "going postal" events, and school shootings. I have penned obituaries to celebrate life, to avoid dwelling on the type or moment of death, but instead to reinforce the remembering of a person’s entire legacy.

There are well-known but little-discussed syndromes that involve “when” people die that have always intrigued me: the “Anniversary” and the “Birthday” reactions and syndromes, for example.

The film Groundhog Day is a metaphorical journey about the Anniversary Syndrome.

One recent news item highlights the Anniversary Syndrome and how it is a form of the copycat effect. It is often quite evident if the method and timing are reflective of the circumstances of the death being copied.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the late Whitney Houston's 21-year-old daughter with singer Bobby Brown, was rushed to a hospital in Roswell, Georgia, on January 31, 2015, Saturday morning after her husband and a friend found her in the tub. Her husband Nick Gordon performed CPR.

A police report released on February 2nd said officers responded to the home in reference to a drowning. The narrative of the incident offered no information about the young woman's condition or the circumstances leading to her being found.

Bobbi Kristina Brown is reportedly in an induced coma and has "significantly diminished" brain function.

On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, submerged in the bathtub; she was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was not immediately known. It was later ruled by the coroner to have been an "accidental drowning." Beverly Hills paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and found the singer unresponsive and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PST. Local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent." On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported the cause of Houston's death was drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use." The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death. Toxicology results revealed additional drugs in her system: Benadryl, Xanax, marijuana and Flexeril. The manner of death was listed as an "accident."

Houston performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium on January 27, 1991.

Whitney Houston's "accidental" bathtub death and her daughter's apparent bathtub drowning both occurred around the same time of year. But more significantly, the two events seemed to have some relationship to being near the dates of 2012's and 2015's NFL Super Bowls.

In 2012, Super Bowl XLVI was played on February 5th. The New York Giants defeated The New England Patriots by a score of 21 to 17. Whitney Houston died on February 11th. The main halftime show performer was Madonna, with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj.

In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX was played on February 1st. The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 28 to 24. The main halftime show performer was Katy Perry, with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot.

Ritualized directional hand signs? Katy Perry wears a 49 jersey.

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Conspiracy videos after Whitney Houston died talked of her being killed by the Illumanti. See here.

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New conspiracy theories are floating around regarding the new Brown news, such as this one posted on YouTube by a Mr. Cati. BTW, Whitney Houston was 48, not 49, when she died. She would have been 49 on her birthday of August 9, 2012.

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But what if it is nothing more than the Anniversary Syndrome?

It is a matter of native folk knowledge that some people appear to wait until a loved one's specific death anniversary, or their own birthday, to die on during those nearby times. Research has proven it has a basis in fact.

Holidays are anniversaries of important events. Holidays and death go hand in hand. Birth dates and death do too.

The notion that there is an anniversary syndrome in which deaths are tied to birthdays or important dates in a person's life has been scientifically studied. The after effects of Post Traumatic Stress events can result in depression or rage linked to the anniversary of any traumatic event such as a death, war, or accident.

This is clearest, perhaps, as the date of death of a loved one approaches. The anniversary of a relative, especially a father or mother, can trigger a Sudden Death (SD), according to research that was presented in March 2008, at the American College of Cardiology’s 57th Annual Scientific Session.

“Sudden death is a major public health problem and is responsible for nearly half of all cardiac deaths,” said Juan Marques, M.D., Central University of Venezuela, and co-investigator of this study. He wrote:

Researchers evaluated a consecutive series of 102 documented sudden death cases of individuals between 37 and 79 years old. Life circumstances that preceded death were investigated. In nearly 70 percent of cases (69 cases), the underlying syndrome was coronary artery disease. In 13 percent of cases (13 cases), SD occurs on the anniversary date of the traumatic event of death of a parent (seven on the anniversary of father’s death, five on the anniversary of mother’s death and one on the anniversary of the death of the mother and father, who died on the same date). Deaths were not related to the loss of any other close family member. Roughly one-third (4 cases) died at a similar age as the family member who died previously....Nearly 80 percent of the patients (10 cases) who died suddenly under the anniversary effect were male. The reason for this is not understood, but may reflect gender differences in response to stressful situations. Source.

Earlier, in 1992, Dr. David P. Phillips, a sociology professor at the University of California in San Diego conducted a study that found that an approaching birthday seems to prolong life in women and precipitate death in men. His study, based on 2,745,149 deaths from natural causes, found that women were more likely to die in the week after their birthdays than in any other week during the year, while men tended to die shortly before their birthdays. It was the first study to show gender differences in so-called anniversary effects: changes in behavior on birthdays, holidays or other personally meaningful occasions.

Birthdays can be either "a deadline or a lifeline," said Phillips. "In our achievement-oriented society, men may find themselves wanting. They don't want to go through another one of these stock-taking periods."

The study was published in the September 1992, Psychosomatic Medicine, the journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, and found 3 percent more deaths than expected among women in the week after a birthday and a slight decline the week before. For men, deaths peaked just before birthdays and showed no rise above normal afterward.

It is true that you can find memorable events that have happened on any date on the calendar, but it is a different matter when the historic incidents are especially significant to the people dying.

Mark Stibich, Ph.D., has this to say about this topic, as it relates to traumatic memories:

There is a commonly held belief that people die more around dates that they associate with loved ones passing or near certain holidays. Some of the statistics prove true – there are more deaths around Christmas (for Westerners) and just after Chinese New Year’s (for Chinese). People seem to be able to time their deaths – extending them slightly to make it to a holiday, birthday or other event.
A recent report in Reuters told of a case in which a woman had a heart attack exactly one week (to the hour) after her father had died. The strangest part is – she was standing at the grave of her sister who had died when she heard the news of her father’s death. Researchers have called this the “anniversary reaction.”
Researchers don’t exactly know what the “anniversary reaction” is or how it might work. What we do know is that thinking positively about the future can add years to your life. So find something to look forward to and be positive about, especially near sad anniversaries. “Anniversary Reaction – Can Memory Trigger Death?”

If this is related to birthdays, where people actually are able to stem the tide of death until they reach their birthdays or important dates, you can see how it interrelates with the anniversary syndrome.

John Judge, 66, Passes Away

“I tell people you can call me a conspiracy theorist if you call everyone else a coincidence theorist,” John Judge once told National Journal.

If you were around to listen to Mae Brussell's weekly radio program, World Watchers, then you know the name John Judge. He was a shining light of intelligence on her programs, and demonstrated he researched his connections deeply.

John Judge, 66, who researched the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as doing unique research on Jonestown, 9/11, and UFOs, has left the building.

Judge, the founder of the Committee on Political Assassinations and tireless activist for open government, has died. John had a stroke this past winter but had improved to the point where he was moved to a rehabilitation center where he suddenly passed away on apparently the first night he was there, on April 15, 2014.

John Patrick Judge was born Dec. 14, 1947, in the District, and he grew up in Falls Church, Va. Both his parents worked at the Pentagon.

The Washington Post recalled John Judge thusly,

Through years of investigation and activism, Mr. Judge developed a devoted following in the community of skeptics who question official or commonly accepted narratives of the past. He co-founded and directed the Coalition on Political Assassinations, an organization whose activities include investigating the deaths in the 1960s of John Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and black nationalist leader Malcolm X. News outlets, with some frequency, featured Mr. Judge and his work.
He turned his Washington home into a repository of thousands of volumes and documents on political assassinations and other matters, supporting himself over the decades through odd jobs and fundraising work. He was once described as a “professional conspiracist,” but he considered himself an “alternate historian,” according to his Web site,judgeforyourself.org.
“I tell people you can call me a conspiracy theorist if you call everyone else a coincidence theorist,” Mr. Judge quipped to the publication National Journal.
His most noted work involved President Kennedy’s death in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Like legions of others doubters labeled conspiracy theorists, Mr. Judge rejected the Warren Commission’s finding that Lee Harvey Oswald had been the lone gunman. Read more here.

The 21st Century Wire called Judge the "Godfather of Alternative Media," and noted that

Judge also served as a Congressional aid to firebrand Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia. Author Daniel McAdams knew Judge and commented in his passing, “We had the pleasure of working briefly with John while he served as Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s aide in Congress. He would occasionally come by the office and I recall being so enormously impressed by his fierce intelligence and his great courage. In a world dominated by 20-something staffers who in the main were convinced they ruled the world but whose arrogance was only matched by their ignorance, you can imagine what a treat it was when John Judge stopped by. He was a giant and he will be greatly missed.”

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McKinney’s eulogy demonstrates the measure of the man, "It is with even great sadness that I report to you the loss of my dear, dear, dear, dear friend John Judge of the 9/11 Truth Community. If ever there was a loyal friend to me, it was John Judge."

John Judge was the

...co-founder of 9/11 Citizens Watch, Judge also did investigative research on the background and details of the attacks of September 11, 2001. He worked with family members of the victims to push for a federal investigation and closely monitored the work of the 9/11 Commission.
Judge was also a co-founder of CHOICES, an organization engaged since 1985 in countering military recruitment in DC area high schools and educating young people about their options with regard to the military. Beginning with the war in Viet Nam, Judge was a life-long anti-war activist and supporter of active-duty soldiers and veterans. Your World News.

People in the conspiracy community were shocked to hear of John Judge's death. Many felt he had been recovering.

The Washington Post observed that John Judge's companion of four years, Marilyn Tenenoff of York Haven, Pennsylvania, said that Judge had a stroke in March but that the cause of death had not been determined. The D.C. medical examiner’s office had not ruled on the case, according to a spokesman.

See Marilyn Tenenoff's remembrance here.

For the "Selected Writings of John Judge," please click here.

FBI Killing Of Tsarnaev Associate Will Fan Conspiracy Theories

UPDATE: Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev participated in a 2011 triple homicide outside Boston along with a Chechen killed Wednesday during a confrontation with the FBI and Massachusetts State Police in Orlando, Florida, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.

Ibragim Todashev not only confessed to his direct role in slashing the throats of three people in the killings in Waltham, Massachusetts, he also fingered Tsarnaev in the deaths, the official says.

Breaking news regarding the death of Ibragim Todashev is disturbing.

I realize we live in conspiracy-driven times, but I would think if the FBI and other federal agencies wanted to avoid stimulating more spin, they would attempt to build in safeguards against things like this happening.

A man fatally shot last night, May 21, 2013, by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Orlando, Florida, was being interviewed for a possible connection to the Boston Marathon bombings, a U.S. law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case told CNN and other media outlets.

The FBI has confirmed that the man killed is Ibragim Todashev who lived at 6022 Peregrine Avenue.

The shooting happened overnight in the Windhover apartment complex off Peregrine Avenue near Kirkman and Vineland roads.

Ibragim Todashev knew both of the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, the official said.

The FBI agent shot Todashev in self-defense in an incident at Todashev's house.

Agents were led to Todashev, who had once lived in Boston, "through investigative leads," the official said. Todashev was from the Chechnya region, as were the Tsarnaev brothers.

Friends of Ibragim Todashev, 26, (shown at top) who was shot and killed by an FBI agent in Orlando, say he is from Chechnya and knew Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. (Photo credit: Orange County Jail)

Khusen Taramov, a friend of Ibrahim Todashev's, says the day that federal agents identified the Tsarnaev brothers as the Boston bombing suspects, FBI agents came to their apartment complex and started questioning a few people of Chechnyan descent. Photo.

Ibragim Todashev was a fighter, as had been Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Here is a video of Todashev.