Shane Bugbee

Shane Bugbee (born November 9, 1968) is an underground artist, publisher, multi-media communicator, filmmaker and event promoter.

He has been criticized for allegedly exploiting the death of Dana Plato of Diff'rent Strokes by releasing a CD recording of her "dying breath".

In 1986 he established Michael Hunt Publishing, he began publishing cartoonist Mike Diana during his obscenity trial. Bugbee was a strong supporter of Mike Diana, and acted as his publisher and manager for nearly a decade. Bugbee hosted Mike Diana's first solo art show at Goat Gallery in Chicago in Dec. 1994. From the article: "He's just making graphic what's already in the paper every day," says Bugbee, who got involved when Diana told him he was going to stop publishing. "I said that was horrible," he recalls. "I told him that I would do it, and when they got me and shut me down then someone else would do it." Diana, he confirms, "is very quiet and soft-spoken. He's really ultrasensitive: that's why he chooses the subject matter he does. It really bothers him."

In 1992 Bugbee became an agent of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy art, eventually publishing Gacy's bio "A Question of Doubt".

A self-proclaimed expert in the subject of Serial Killers, Bugbee has spoken extensively on the subject, even touring a collection of artifacts including Ed Geins tombstone. These "side show" style speaking engagements have drawn criticism as exploitive and over the edge. Salem, Ma. Mayor Stanley Usovicz tried to stop one event, calling it "an outrage" after Bugbee displayed Ed Gein's truck in the center of Salem's downtown area.

In 1997 Bugbee and his wife Amy organized "The Expo of the Extreme", a three-day event featuring bands, artists, films, petty criminals, and porn stars. The second installment of "The Expo Of The Extreme" in 1999, was to include Dana Plato as the hostess of an event highlighting Motörhead and Fang, but she died just weeks before the event from an alleged prescription drug suicide.

In the course of his work, Bugbee has interviewed various well-known individuals, including TV magician Penn Jillette, and Anton LaVey, the High Priest of the Church of Satan.

Bugbee created his own blueberry soda pop, Ely Soda. The popularity of the soda led to wider revelation of Bugbee's other entrepreneurial and artistic endeavors (via Google searches, etc.), eventually ending in controversy and exile.

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Wikipedia