Steven Hager
| Steven Hager | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 25, 1951 Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois |
| Occupation | Editor of Abakus media |
| Years active | 1968 — 2015 |
| Organization | High Times Freedom Fighters The Pot Illuminati |
| Known for | Introducing hip hop, creating the Cannabis Cup and unveiling the JFK and Lincoln assassinations |
Steven Hager (born May 25, 1951, Illinois) is an American writer, journalist, filmmaker, and counterculture and cannabis activist.
Hager was born on May 25, 1951, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the son of Lowell P. Hager and Francis Erea Hager. While a student in junior high, he established his first publication, the Cap'n Crunch Courier, a humor xerox zine that was given away free. Two years later, while a student at Urbana High School, he created The Tin Whistle, a monthly newspaper that was eventually distributed in four high schools in Central Illinois. One of his friends, Jim Wilson, became the first black elected Senior Class President at Urbana High. Wilson was later banned from the football team, even though he had been the starting end and place kicker because of his association with Hager. Hager briefly visited Haight-Ashbury in 1968, and the following year he attended the first festival. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater (Playwriting), and a Masters of Science in Journalism, both from the University of Illinois.
After graduation, Hager moved to New York City, worked for a number of magazines before becoming a reporter for the New York Daily News. During this time, he began researching the hip hop movement of the South Bronx. His first article on the subculture was published on the cover of the Village Voice and was the first time the words "hip hop" appeared in the Village Voice . Hager based his article on interviews with Afrika Bambaataa, founder of the Zulu Nation, and one of the three original hip hop DJs (the others being Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash). Hager sold his original story Beat Street to Harry Belafonte, and the film with the same name was distributed by Orion Pictures. In 1984, St. Martins' Press released his book, Hip Hop, the first history of rap music, break dancing and graffiti art. (In 2012, an ebook version was published at www.smashwords.com.) Hager followed that book with "Art After Midnight," an examination of the New York club scene and its influence on artists, primarily Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf. (The entire text of Art After Midnight (including the much-quoted Basquiat interview) was reprinted in The Octopus Conspiracy and Other Vignettes of the Counterculture: From Hippies to High Times to Hip-Hop and Beyond as well as Adventures in the Counterculture.)
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