John Muir (1918-1977) was an aerospace engineer whom worked for
Lockheed, that "dropped out," 1960s-style, with become a long-haired
automobile technician with a garage inside Taos, New Mexico,
specializing inside upkeep plus repair of Volkswagens. He is a
descendant of the naturalist John Muir. In 1969, Muir collaborated with
all the cartoonist Peter Aschwanden with create the conclusive guide for
Volkswagen owners entitled How with Keep The Volkswagen Alive; A Manual
of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot. Entirely
hand-lettered with intricate hand-drawn illustrations, Muir's
self-published edition available over 2 million duplicates with become
the most lucrative self-published books inside history, when its wry
subtitle preceded (plus probably inspired) the unending flow of "for
Dummies" books from IDG Publishing, plus additional "idiot's guide
with..." books. Currently, the 19th Edition, with up-to-date information
by Tosh Gregg plus Aschwanden remains commonly accessible.
Although initially published at the finish of the 1960s, the Volkswagen
was an iconic 1960s car, plus inside retrospect this book is iconic of
hippies' cool homemade, make-do culture.
Muir's next book, published inside 1973, The Velvet Monkeywrench, was an
ambitious attempt with, because Muir place it, "lay out this structure,
the bones of the completely fresh establishment," a proposal which
included detailed plans for the substitution of the United States of
America with all the Republic of North America. The book remains
accessible from Ocean Tree Books.
Muir died inside November 1977 of the mind tumor, only brief of his 59th
birthday. In 1999, John Muir Publications was available with Avalon
Travel Publishing, with publishing rights with How with Keep . . . going
with Avalon.