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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Francis E. Dec was born in [[New York (state)|New York]] on January 6, 1926.<ref>{{cite web |title=Francis E. Dec's birth certificate |url=https://www.bentoandstarchky.com/dec/Dec_BC.pdf |website=Bento and Starchky |accessdate=30 January 2020}}</ref> After the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], he enlisted into the [[United States Army]] with the rank of [[Private (rank)|private]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Military service record of Francis E. Dec |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=3&cat=all&tf=F&q=%22Dec,+Francis%22&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=544728&rlst=3787416,544728,549283 |website=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] |accessdate=30 January 2020}}</ref> However, he remained within the United States for the duration of the war, albeit periodically moving between bases, at one point being assigned to [[Marine Corps Air Station Yuma|Yuma Army Air Station]]. After the war, Dec entered into law, but was eventually disbarred by the state of New York in 1958 and proceeded to make numerous "incoherent" legal appeals, including an appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 60 days in 1961 and in 1965 attempted to flee his home in [[Hempstead, New York]] for Poland. Dec spent the next 25 years writing and distributing lengthy screeds about the "Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God" and its conspiracy to control the world through electronic mind control devices, or [[influencing machine]]s.<ref name="amiran" /> These flyers were mailed to radio and television stations across the United States.<ref name="sconce">{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Sconce|title=The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k22DDwAAQBAJ|date=17 January 2019|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|isbn=978-1-4780-0244-4|chapter=|page=237-245}}</ref><ref name="columbian">{{Cite news |last=Zuzel |first=Michael |date=2 September 1997 |title=Fringe Religion Offers Different Nooks for Different Kooks |language=en |work=The Columbian |url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/252904546 |id={{ProQuest|252904546}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref> |
Francis E. Dec was born in [[New York (state)|New York]] on January 6, 1926.<ref>{{cite web |title=Francis E. Dec's birth certificate |url=https://www.bentoandstarchky.com/dec/Dec_BC.pdf |website=Bento and Starchky |accessdate=30 January 2020}}</ref> After the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], he enlisted into the [[United States Army]] with the rank of [[Private (rank)|private]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Military service record of Francis E. Dec |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=3&cat=all&tf=F&q=%22Dec,+Francis%22&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=544728&rlst=3787416,544728,549283 |website=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] |accessdate=30 January 2020}}</ref> However, he remained within the United States for the duration of the war, albeit periodically moving between bases, at one point being assigned to [[Marine Corps Air Station Yuma|Yuma Army Air Station]]. After the war, Dec entered into law, but was eventually disbarred by the state of New York in 1958 and proceeded to make numerous "incoherent" legal appeals, including an appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 60 days in 1961 and in 1965 attempted to flee his home in [[Hempstead, New York]] for Poland. Dec spent the next 25 years writing and distributing lengthy screeds about the "Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God" and its conspiracy to control the world through electronic mind control devices, or [[influencing machine]]s.<ref name="amiran" /> These flyers were mailed to radio and television stations across the United States.<ref name="sconce">{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Sconce|title=The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k22DDwAAQBAJ|date=17 January 2019|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|isbn=978-1-4780-0244-4|chapter=|page=237-245}}</ref><ref name="columbian">{{Cite news |last=Zuzel |first=Michael |date=2 September 1997 |title=Fringe Religion Offers Different Nooks for Different Kooks |language=en |work=The Columbian |url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/252904546 |id={{ProQuest|252904546}}{{ProQuest|252904546}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref> |
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==Analysis== |
==Analysis== |
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Revision as of 03:44, 12 October 2020
Francis E. Dec (January 6, 1926 – January 21, 1996) was an American lawyer and outsider writer[1] who was best known for his typewritten diatribes that he independently mailed and published from the late 1960s onward. His works are characterized by highly accusatory and vulgar attacks on various subjects, often making use of phrases like "Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God"[2] to slander hierarchies that he believed were engaging in electronic harassment against him.
Biography
Francis E. Dec was born in New York on January 6, 1926.[3] After the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted into the United States Army with the rank of private.[4] However, he remained within the United States for the duration of the war, albeit periodically moving between bases, at one point being assigned to Yuma Army Air Station. After the war, Dec entered into law, but was eventually disbarred by the state of New York in 1958 and proceeded to make numerous "incoherent" legal appeals, including an appeal to the Supreme Court. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 60 days in 1961 and in 1965 attempted to flee his home in Hempstead, New York for Poland. Dec spent the next 25 years writing and distributing lengthy screeds about the "Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God" and its conspiracy to control the world through electronic mind control devices, or influencing machines.[1] These flyers were mailed to radio and television stations across the United States.[5][6]
Analysis
Jeffrey Sconce analyzed the written works of Francis E. Dec in his book The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity, within a chapter discussing the phenomenon of targeted individuals.[5] In it, he states that "his writing speaks to a feature of technical delusions that became increasingly prominent in the second half of the twentieth century." Sconce also identifies that "Dec's screeds are emblematic in their careening, amplified panic over imperious yet chimerical powers that seemingly are everywhere all the time and yet can never be fully confronted or understood."[5]
Legacy
Dec gained a cult following in the 1980s, especially when specific fans of his attempted to contact him. In 1989, Dec went on a sojourn to New York, and fans attempting to contact him at his house were left facing his house in dismay:
"The house is daubed red-on-blue, surrounded by wild hedges, and has a blue trash can with ornamental glass knob for a mailbox. Heavy blinds kept us from viewing any 'strange stuff' inside. It was I who asked the cabbies about Dec: 'Dat old German mon? He's in dere!' 'Is he, you know...' pointing to my head. 'Well, look at de house, mon!' End of adventure. Should've sent money."[2]
Among other figures interested in Dec's works were William S. Burroughs and Genesis P-Orridge; the latter used a recording of his voice on the Psychic TV album "Ultrahouse (The L.A. Connection)".[2] A 1983 issue of Weirdo by Robert Crumb was based on Dec's works, and a stage play inspired by Dec, titled A History of Heen (not Francis E. Dec Esq.)[7] premiered in 1999.[5] Other media inspired by Dec's writings include Hero in Hell, a series of spoken word performances performed by former KROQ-FM DJ Boyd R. Britton in the 1980s. A short film, also titled Hero in Hell, was shot & produced in 2001/2002 at California State University, Monterey Bay, and starred Will Shephard as "Frederic E. Drake, Esq." The film's dialogue includes many of Dec's signature rants, though they have been sanitized of the racist and anti-Semitic content.[citation needed] A spliced version of his speech To All Judges read by Boyd "Doc" Briton is featured in the Venetian Snares song americanized from the EP infolepsy
See also
References
- ^ a b Amiran, Eyal (26 November 2018). "The Pornocratic Body in the Age of Networked Paranoia". Cultural Critique. 100: 134–156. ISSN 1460-2458.
- ^ a b c "UbuWeb Sound - Francis E. Dec". ubu.com. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ "Francis E. Dec's birth certificate" (PDF). Bento and Starchky. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ "Military service record of Francis E. Dec". National Archives. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d Jeffrey Sconce (17 January 2019). The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity. Duke University Press. p. 237-245. ISBN 978-1-4780-0244-4.
- ^ Zuzel, Michael (2 September 1997). "Fringe Religion Offers Different Nooks for Different Kooks". The Columbian. ProQuest 252904546ProQuest 252904546 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Psycho Analysis". Village Voice. Retrieved 2 November 2019.