James Almand Haynes (10 November 1933 – 6 January 2021) was an American-born figure in the British 1950s-60s counterculture, beginning in Edinburgh, Scotland with the opening of The Paperback bookshop in 1959. He was also a co-founder of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

's Traverse Theatre, The Howff, and a co-producer of the 1962 Edinburgh Writers and 1964 Drama conferences. In London, he co-founded the underground newspaper ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...

'' and the London Drury Lane Arts Lab. In 1969 he relocated to Paris and taught at the University of Paris, and for over 30 years hosted his open door Sunday Dinners, to international gatherings.

Early life

Haynes was born in the United States in Haynesville, Claiborne Parish, in far northern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Later, he spent his middle-school years in Venezuela when his father took a job there with Shell Oil. In 1956, Haynes served in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland, and decided to stay after his service ended.

Career

Edinburgh

He attended some classes at the University of Edinburgh and, among other writing and musical activities, helped to found the Traverse Theatre and the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

via his bookshop 'The Paperbacl'. He opened the Paperback Bookshop in

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

in 1959, which is documented as "Britain’s first paperback-only bookshop". The bookshop was one of the first in the UK to stock ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

''. In 1962, Haynes co-produced the Edinburgh Writer's Conference with John Calder and Sonia Orwell. In 1963 Haynes and Calder and

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...

created an International Drama Conference which ended in a scandal, a nude young woman being involved in a

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

London

In 1966 Haynes relocated to London, in the middle of the "

Swinging Sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...

". He became deeply involved in the underground cultural scene, co-founding the alternative paper ''International Times'', known as "I.T.", together with

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

, John Hopkins, and others. In September 1967 Haynes co-founded the Drury Lane Arts Lab space for mixed-media, which closed in late 1969. That year he co-launched with William Levy,

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

and

Heathcote Williams John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist. He wrote a number of book-length polemical poems including ''Autogeddon'', ''Falling ...

''Suck'' newspaper in Amsterdam to promote sexual freedom; it was also distributed in the United Kingdom. The first issue contained a long and unrestrainedly descriptive erotic poem attributed to W. H. Auden and an explicit photo of

. In 1968 he co-founded Videoheads with Jack Henry Moore in London.

Paris

In 1969 Haynes moved to Paris, where he taught Media Studies and Sexual Politics for 30 years at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. He published an irregular newsletter about his life and times. In addition, he wrote an autobiographical memoir, titled ''Thanks for Coming''. In 1970, he created and directed the Wet Dream Festival in Amsterdam. Dworkin Haynes Clare on After Dark

In 1988 he made an extended appearance on the British TV discussion programme '' After Dark'' alongside

Andrea Dworkin Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen sol ...

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

and others. In Paris, Haynes held a weekly open house dinner party beginning in 1978; at the time of his death he was estimated to have hosted over 130,000 to 150,000 people for the Sunday dinners. At Christmas 2009, Haynes and his open house parties were featured in British television advertisements for multinational foods company

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

: "When the coffee and 'After Eight' mints come out, Jim's always got a story to tell."

Later life

Haynes had a heart attack in August 2011 on his way from Paris to the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

, but he recovered. In 2018 Haynes was awarded an honorary PhD from

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

. Haynes died in his sleep in Paris on 6 January 2021.

In popular culture

The documentary '' Echoes of the Underground'' includes footage of him and featured Lee Harris, Brian Barritt, Henk Targowski, and

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

. The score for the film was written and performed by The Moonlight Convention. It is drawn from his book by the same name.

Publications (incomplete)

* ''Hello, I Love You! Voices from within the Sexual Revolution,'' First published in 1974 by Jim Haynes under various imprints, Jean Lafitte Editions, Almonde Editions, Handshake Editions, edited by Jeanne Pasle Green and Jim Haynes. Translated and published in French, German and Italian. A semi-pirate edition published by Times Change Press in California in 1977. Traverse Plays, Penguin Books, London, 1966. Edited by Jim Haynes. * ''Workers of the World, Unite and Stop Working! A Reply to Marxism,'' First published in a bi-lingual English/French edition by Dandelion Editions, Paris, in 1978. Later published in a German-language edition and a bi-lingual English/Russian edition in St. Petersburg. A new edition published by Glas, Moscow in English in 2002. * ''Everything Is! Soft Manifestos for Our Time,'' Published by Handshake Editions in Paris in 1980. Later published in German-language edition by Volksverlag in 1981. Translated into French and published in a small edition by Handshake Editions in 1981. Also Glas Publications in Moscow brings out a new edition in English in 2002. * ''More Romance, Less Romanticism,'' Edited by Jim Haynes, Published in an extremely limited edition by Handshake Editions in Paris in 1982. * ''Thanks for Coming!,'' A Participatory Autobiography, published by Faber and Faber in 1984. * ''Round the World in 33 Days,'' edited by Jim Haynes, published by Glas, Moscow in 2002, in English. * ''Homage to Henry, a homage to Henry Miller,'' A collection of essays about Henry Miller edited by Jim Haynes and published by Handshake Editions, Paris in 1980. Re-printed in 1982. New edition in 2005. * ''THANKS FOR COMING! ENCORE! a memoir,'' Polwarth Publishing, Edinburgh, 2014. * ''World Citizen: at Home in Paris,'' Polwarth Publishing, Edinburgh 2016.

Notes

External links

*
International Times (IT) ArchiveThe Arts Lab Newsletter - Jim Haynes tells it like it is - October 1969Unfinished Histories - Alternative Theatre recorded interview with Jim Haynes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haynes, Jim 1933 births 2021 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academic staff of the University of Paris American publishers (people) Counterculture of the 1960s Counterculture of the 1970s People from Haynesville, Louisiana American emigrants to Scotland American sociologists American emigrants to France Academics from Louisiana