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Jerry Peterson, aka Jerry Vile, is a Detroit metro area artist, performer, and publisher known for his provocative style. Peterson created and published several free culture/humor magazines between 1978-1999 including White Noise, Fun: The Magazine for Swinging Intelectuals [sic], and Orbit. The collection is comprised of complete runs of Fun and Orbit and contains a small number of photographs, memorabilia, and other publications including an anthology by Rob St. Mary.

The collection is primarily comprised of the periodicals Fun: The Magazine for Swinging Intelectuals [sic] and Orbit, created and published by Jerry Peterson. The satirical magazines document Detroit's pop and punk culture scenes in the 1980s and 1990s and include articles and graphics on arts, culture, humor, and entertainment. A detailed index of volumes and issues may be found in Box 8; this is a useful reference due to inconsistency of both publications volume/issue numbering scheme.

The collection also contains a small number of photographs and memorabilia from Orbit; special edition publications by Jerry Peterson on Detroit including a satirical ad he had printed in the Detroit Metro Times during the Detroit bankruptcy in 2013; and the book The Orbit Magazine Anthology: re-entry, authored by Rob St. Mary and published in 2015, which chronicles the history of Detroit's alternative publications.

John and Leni Sinclair were leaders of the counterculture movement in Michigan, organizers of radical social, political, and cultural endeavors primarily in the areas of music, poetry, graphic design, and community welfare projects. Papers and photographs (1957-1979) relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform. Also material, 1979-2000, relating to John Sinclair's work as a writer, performer, radio show host and music promoter.

The John Sinclair papers came to the library in 1979. Jointly donated by John and Leni Sinclair, this initial accession, covering the period 1957-1979, included textual material, sound recordings, and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, prison reform, and rock and jazz music.

The Sinclair papers provide a rich and unique source for the study of America's radical movement in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Beginning with a remarkable series of correspondence that includes letters from Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Jerry Rubin, and continuing on through extensive subject files, the collection details the cultural, political and business activities of a man whose energy and charisma made him a local and national leader of the counterculture. In addition, the collection documents the support and creativity of his wife and partner, who as writer, photographer and publicist helped to showcase the lifestyle which he symbolized.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John Sinclair added to his papers with materials relating to his career as a writer and performer. In the winter of 2000, he donated a second large accession relating mainly to the period since leaving Detroit for New Orleans.

The Sinclair collection has been divided into four subgroups: Textual Files, Printed Material, Sound Recordings, and Visual Material.