John Wilcock was a British journalist known for his work in the underground press, as well as his travel guide books. The first news editor of the New YorkVillage Voice, Wilcock shook up staid publishing in the USA. His influence extended to several continents, including Australia and the United Kingdom, where—in his mild-mannered way—he pushed the boundaries of image and speech. An unsung hero of the sixties, Wilcock also served three years as a travel editor at The New York Times.
Biography
Early career
Wilcock began working for newspapers in his home country, the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, as well as magazines in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Underground press
After co-founding the Village Voice in 1955, his Voice weekly column lasted from 1955 to 1965, when he left to edit New York's first underground paper, the East Village Other. While at the Village Voice, he founded The Traveler’s Directory, a grassroots mutual hospitality organization. The Traveler’s Directory was published from 1960 to 1984, under various editors. While coordinating the Underground Press Syndicate, he guest-edited "underground" papers in London, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, returning to New York to publish his own underground tabloid, Other Scenes.
Guide books
In 1960 Wilcock wrote the first of several travel books for Arthur Frommer, Mexico On $5 a Day, following up with guides to California, Greece, Japan, and India. During this period he co-edited The Witches Almanac. Three more books resulted from their collaboration: Magical & Mystical Sites ; an Occult Guide to South America, and A Guide to Occult Britain. At the invitation of the Venezuelan government he researched and wrote Traveling in Venezuela in 1979 and, in the 1980s and 1990s wrote/edited 25 books for Insight Guides.
During a five-year association with Andy Warhol, Wilcock audiotaped the enigmatic artist's closest associates, asking them to "explain" him, publishing the results in 1971 as The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol. This $5 biography became a rare book offered for sale on Amazon at prices close to $1,000. A revised edition of the book was released in 2010. Wilcock co-founded Interview magazine with Warhol in 1969.
Relocating to Ojai, California, in 2001, Wilcock began publishing an international monthly magazine, the Ojai Orange, free to his friends in a dozen countries, and all issues of this are now available on his website, along with his weekly column and his weekly public-access television travel show. Wilcock died in Ojai on 13 September 2018 after multiple strokes, at the age of 91.
