Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007) was an influential American author and editor known for his eclectic mix of science fiction, philosophy, and metaphysics. Born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Irish Catholic family, Wilson displayed an early passion for reading and diverse beliefs. He transitioned from studying engineering to working as a medical orderly and ultimately found a career in writing and editing, including a notable tenure at Playboy magazine. Throughout the 1960s and beyond, he became well-known for his exploration of consciousness and reality, often using his experiences with psychedelics as a backdrop for his work.
Wilson's most famous literary contributions include the "Illuminatus! Trilogy," co-written with Robert Shea, which delves into secret societies and conspiracy theories with a humorous twist. His other significant works include the "Cosmic Trigger" trilogy and the "Schroedinger's Cat" trilogy, which blend fiction with philosophical inquiry into the nature of reality. His writing is characterized by a unique, zany humor and a commitment to challenging conventional thought, making him a prominent figure in countercultural and philosophical circles. Wilson's legacy continues to influence discussions around consciousness, belief systems, and the nature of reality.
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Robert Anton Wilson
Writer
- Born: January 18, 1932
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
- Died: January 11, 2007
- Place of death: Capitola, California
Biography
Robert Anton Wilson was born of Irish Catholic heritage on January 18, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of longshoreman John Joseph Wilson and Elizabeth (Milli) Wilson. He grew up in Flatbush and Gerrison Beach, and attended Brooklyn Polytechnic High, where he became a voracious reader, particularly of scientific and philosophical works, while embracing and rejecting a whole series of beliefs. After high school, Wilson worked for an engineering firm while attending Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, majoring in engineering and mathematics between 1952 and 1957.
In the mid-1950’s, Wilson traded his engineering job for a position as a medical orderly, and studied English at NYU (1957-1958). He spent considerable free time listening to black bebop artists in New York nightclubs, and began smoking marijuana; he soon expanded his mind with other drugs, including peyote, mescaline and LSD during more than a dozen years of experimentation. Wilson married former scriptwriter (for the radio show The Lives of Harry Lime) Arlen Riley in 1958, and they became parents of four children: Karuna, Djoti, Graham, and Luna (killed at age fifteen during a robbery). Wilson served as editor of Verbal Level from 1957 to 1959, and contributed the first of more than two thousand articles (sometimes under pseudonyms like Mordecai Malignatus and Reverend Loveshade) to various publications.
Wilson was employed briefly (1962) as educational director of the School of Living in Ohio before working as assistant sales manager at Antioch Bookplate (1962-1965). From 1966 to 1971, he was associate editor at Playboy magazine in Chicago, Illinois. It was through Playboy Press that Wilson published his first nonfiction works: Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words, Sex and Drugs: A Journey Beyond Limits, and The Book of the Breast.
Wilson’s first novel, The Sex Magicians, appeared in 1974. The difficult-to- classify work was later revised and expanded into a trilogy called Schroedinger’s Cat, consisting of The Universe Next Door, 1979, The Trick Top Hat, 1981, and The Homing Pigeons, 1981. The trilogy blends science fiction, alternate history, conspiracy theories, metaphysics, and the author’s distinctive brand of zany humor. Wilson expanded upon these themes in his fictional Illuminatus! Trilogy, written with fellow Playboy editor Robert Shea: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, and Leviathan, which explored past secret societies known as the Illuminati while examining humankind’s potential in the future. Illuminatus! won the 1986 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
Since the mid-1970’s, virtually all of Wilson’s nonfiction (such as the Cosmic Trigger trilogy—The Final Secret of the Illuminati, Down to Earth, My Life After Death—The Illuminati Papers, Prometheus Rising: Brain Power in Evolution, and Chaos and Beyond: The Best of Trajectories) and fiction (including Masks of the Illuminati, The Earth Will Shake, and Nature’s God) have continued to mine the fertile and mind-stimulating territory the author has staked out. Wilson has also essayed drama, writing a play, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, and a screenplay, Reality Is What You Can Get Away With.