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George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''
The Dice Man ''The Dice Man'' is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a die. Cockcroft describes the ...
,'' the story of a psychiatrist who experiments with making life decisions based on the roll of a dice. ''The Dice Man'' was critically well received and a commercial success. It quickly became and remains a
cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
. It was followed by two spiritual sequels in ''
Adventures of Wim ''Adventures of Wim'' is a book by George Cockcroft, written under the pen name Luke Rhinehart. It was first published in 1986. Plot summary The book is composed of sections taken from other, fictional books. The preface to the book claims th ...
'' (1986) and '' The Search for the Dice Man'' (1993) as well as a companion volume called ''
The Book of the Die George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...
'' (2000). Rhinehart wrote several other novels between 1986 and 2016, though none achieved the success of ''The Dice Man''.


Biography


Early life

George Powers Cockcroft was born on November 15, 1932, in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, to Donald and Elizabeth Cockcroft, both college graduates, his mother from
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...
. He was raised in Albany, where his father was an electrical engineer, and his ancestry included Vermont political notables. He attended
The Albany Academy Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school in Albany, New York. It enrolls students from Prekindergaten (age 4) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer and the cit ...
, graduating in 1950, and received a BA from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in 1954 and an MA from
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1956. In 1964, he received a PhD in American literature from Columbia. After obtaining his PhD, he went into teaching. During his years as a university professor he taught, among other things, courses in
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
and
Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...
. In 1969, while Cockcroft was teaching a study abroad program on the island of
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
, an Englishman starting a new publishing house stopped at a cafe in the same village,
Deià Deià () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality and small coastal village in the Serra de Tramuntana, which forms the northern ridge of the Spain, Spanish island of Mallorca. It is located about north of Valldemossa, and it is known for its ...
, and was given a partial manuscript of ''The Dice Man'' to read by Cockcroft. Cockcroft was subsequently offered an advance payment for publication. Shortly afterwards, Cockcroft was encouraged by his course Director to take an early sabbatical from his teaching duties. He remained in Mallorca to complete the novel, after which the publisher sold the American rights to the novel for a large sum, and within a year the film rights, allowing Cockcroft to retire from teaching and become a full time novelist.


Personal life and family

Cockcroft married his wife, Ann, who later became a writer of two romance novels and a volume of poetry, in June 1956. Together they have three children. The author and his family spent a number of years traveling, sailing, and returning to Mallorca, living in Deià in the late 1960s and early 70s, including time spent on a large
catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...
, which became the inspiration for the boat in his novel '' Long Voyage Back''. In the mid-1970s they returned to the United States. They spent 1975 in a
sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
commune, before moving to a large old
farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...
and former religious retreat in the foothills of the Berkshires in
upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
.


Later life and death

On 1 August 2012, the "death" of Rhinehart at the age of 79 was announced by email to 25 friends, beginning with the words "It is our pleasure to inform you that Luke Rhinehart is dead"; it was later revealed the "Death Letter" was instigated as a playful hoax by Cockcroft. Reactions ranged from sorrow to gratitude and amusement. In 2018, Rhinehart expressed a wish to be cremated after his death if he could not be naturally buried legally in the one-acre lake upon his property. George Cockroft died, aged 87, on 6 November 2020.


''The Dice Man''

Rhinehart's famous novel ''The Dice Man'' was published in 1971 and tells the story of a
psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...
who makes daily decisions based on the casting of
dice A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...
. The cover bore the confident tagline, "Few novels can change your life. This one will"; in the United States this was altered to read, "This book will change your life". Cockcroft has described the origin of the idea for this work variously, and at the time of the publication of this work, "it was not clear whether the book was fiction or autobiography", because its protagonist and author were eponymous. Curiosity over its authorship has persisted since its publication. Emmanuel Carrère, writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', presented a long-form expose on Cockcroft and the relationship between author and legend in 2019, and in following others, established the author Cockcroft as a life-long English professor living "in an old farmhouse with a yard that slopes down to a duck pond", a husband of fifty-years, father of three, and a caregiver to a special needs child. ''The Dice Man'' was critically well received. It quickly became, and remains thought of as a cult classic. It initially sold poorly in the United States, but well in Europe, particularly England, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. Writing in 2017 for ''The Guardian'', Tanya Gold noted that "over the course of 45 years" it was still in print, had become famous, had devoted fans, and had "sold more than 2m copies in multiple languages", with as many as 27 languages and 60 countries have been claimed. In 1995, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
called it "one of the fifty most influential books of the last half of the twentieth century,". In 1999, after one of their reporters experimented, controversially, with dicing, ''Loaded'' magazine named it "Novel of the Century". In 2013, Alex Clark of the ''
Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
'' chose it as one of the fifty greatest
cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
books of the last hundred years.


Works after ''The Dice Man''


Comic philosophical novels

A number of works by Luke Rhinehart have a similar style and themes to ''The Dice Man,'' alternating between first- and third-person voices with selections from fictional documents. In one case, he even quotes from a future book that he did not actually write until more than two decades later. The voices having different characteristics, the novel's mood changes accordingly. Presenting these multiple fragments from multiple viewpoints together results in a "cubist" narrative structure. Of this, Rhinehart stated that they had "always conceived of myself as being multiple – having, you know, a dozen different selves, if not a thousand different selves, at any given moment." ''Adventures of Wim'' is a new interpretation of the story of Wim, a Montauk boy born of a virgin mother, declared the savior of the Montauk nation, and his life quest for Ultimate Truth. The story is told in part through the medium of fictional documents. '' The Search for the Dice Man'' (1993), set twenty years after ''The Dice Man'', tells the story of Luke Rhinehart's son, Larry, who has built a highly successful and stable life after rejecting his father's embracing of Chance. On a quest to find his father, Larry's life of order and routine is enveloped in chaos, the legacy of his father's work. From a draft written at the same time as ''The Dice Man'', ''Naked Before the World'' (2008) celebrates the lives of both hippies and the establishment in 1960s Mallorca through the story of Katya, a naive Catholic art student who arrives on the island to study. Katya is thrown into a world of artists, frauds, sex, drugs and the struggle to discover who she wants to be. In ''Jesus Invades George: An Alternative History'' (2013), which takes place in 2007, then-sitting President George W. Bush is possessed by the spirit of Jesus Christ. The story playfully reveals and deconstructs the hypocrisy of government and modern politics. In ''
Invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
'' (2016), aliens invade Earth for the sole purpose of having fun. Hyper-intelligent and able to morph into multiple forms, they play games with culture and infrastructure, from computer networks and social media to corporate culture and human relationships. The resulting mayhem reveals the primitive nature of our society, and offers an alternative vision for the human race. A sequel is yet to be published, entitled ''The Hairy Balls and the End of Civilization''.


Conventional novels

'' Matari'' (1975), republished as ''White Wind, Black Rider'' (2008), is
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
set in 18th Century Japan. The beautiful Matari is joined by two zen poets as she flees from her husband, a samurai lord who is giving chase with intent to murder her. A lyrical and poetic tale of love, honor and morality. ''Long Voyage Back'' (1983) is a nautical action-adventure novel following a group of people sailing a trimaran, and their struggle for survival as they escape the aftermath of nuclear war.


Nonfiction

''
The Book of est ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'' (1976) is a narrative account of
Werner Erhard Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935) is an American lecturer known for founding est (offered from 1971 to 1984). In 1985, he replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum. Since 1991, the Forum ...
's controversial
large-group awareness training The term large-group awareness training (LGAT) refers to activities—usually offered by groups with links to the human potential movement—which claim to increase self-awareness and to bring about desirable transformations in individuals' Person ...
personal transformation course,
Erhard Seminars Training Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. (marketed as est, though often encountered as EST or Est) was an organization founded by Werner Erhard in 1971 that offered a two-weekend (6-day, 60-hour) course known officially as "The est Standard Training". The ...
, which began in 1971. The reader is put in the place of a participant in order to vicariously "experience" the training. Erhard wrote a foreword to the book. ''
The Book of the Die George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...
'' (2000) is "handbook of dice living" intended to help readers to embrace Chance and live more freely. It follows the philosophy that people must give up their illusion that a self-direction can control life; they must let go. A collection of proverbs, essays, cartoons, poems and scenes from movies form this guide to creating a more playful and unpredictable life.


Other work

Rhinehart wrote nine
screenplays A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...
: five were based directly on his novels: ''The Dice Man'', ''The Search for the Dice Man'', ''Whim'', ''Naked Before the World'', and ''White Wind, Black Rider''. Two others were direct ''Dice Man'' sequels featuring the original character: ''The Dice Lady'' (co-written with Peter Forbes), and ''Last Roll of the Die'' (co-written with Nick Mead). Two other screenplays, ''Mawson'' and ''Picton's Chance'' were original concepts. A music and spoken word album, ''The Dice Man Speaks'' featuring the pseudonymous Rhinehart and Sputnik Weazel was released in 2018. On it, Luke Rhinehart performs spoken word passages over acoustic and electronic music by Weazel.


Cultural influence

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
has said he used dice when signing bands in the early days of
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
after reading ''The Dice Man'' and deciding to "follow its teachings." Journalist Ben Marshall spent two years from 1998 to 2000 experimenting with dice and reporting his experiences in ''Loaded'' magazine; ''Loaded'' subsequently named Cockcroft/Rhinehart as novelist of the century. A four-season television travel series called ''The Diceman'' was broadcast between 1998 and 2000 by the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...
in which the destinations and activities of the participants were determined by the roll of a die. UK Channel 4's broadcast of ''Diceworld'' (1999,
Paul Wilmshurst Paul Wilmshurst (born 15 December 1961) is a British television director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his work across drama, documentary, and docudrama formats, with credits including ''Doctor Who'', '' Strike Back'', ''The Last ...
directing), a 50-minute television documentary about Cockcroft/Rhinehart and some of the people influenced by his novels contributed to a resurgence of interest in Cockcroft/Rhinehart's books. A further documentary was produced in 2004, a collaboration between Cockcroft/Rhinehart and director Nick Mead, entitled ''Dice Life: The Random Mind of Luke Rhinehart''. Inspired by ''The Dice Man'' and written by Paul Lucas, a play called ''The Dice House'' premiered in the United Kingdom in 2001, and went on to staging at the Arts Theatre in London's West End in 2004. The text of Lucas's play was published by
Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
in 2001 and by
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
in 2012. In music, a 1979 song by The Fall called "Dice Man" takes its title and general concept from the book. The
Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981 by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). Initially a synth-pop group, Talk Talk's first two albums, '' The Party's Over'' (198 ...
song " Such A Shame" (1984) was inspired by ''The Dice Man''. In 1992 British musician Richard D. James used the pseudonym The Dice Man for the track "Polygon Window". Jez Coad's band The Surfing Brides have a track titled "Diceman" (1992) which was also inspired by the book. The
At The Gates At the Gates is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At ...
song "World of Lies" (1995) quotes ''The Dice Man'' during its spoken word lyrics. The UK
comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...
, '' 2000 AD'', published the
Gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...
magazine ''Dice Man'' in 1986. Five editions were created by
Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...
through October of that year, with script and game by Mills, covers by
Glenn Fabry Glenn Fabry (; born 24 March 1961) is a British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour. Career Glenn Fabry's career began in 1985, drawing ''Sláine (comics), Slaine'' for ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 A ...
, and art and lettering by various ''2000 AD'' artists. The brewers of
Rolling Rock Rolling Rock is a 4.4% abv American lager launched in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Company. Although founded as a local beer in Western Pennsylvania, it was marketed aggressively and eventually became a national product. The brand was sold to Anh ...
beer launched an advertising campaign in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1998 based on ''The Dice Man'', a campaign that included a short-lived ''Dice Life'' website.


Bibliography

* ''
The Dice Man ''The Dice Man'' is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a die. Cockcroft describes the ...
'' (1971) * '' Matari'' (1975) * ''
The Book of est ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'' (1976) * '' Long Voyage Back'' (1983) * ''
Adventures of Wim ''Adventures of Wim'' is a book by George Cockcroft, written under the pen name Luke Rhinehart. It was first published in 1986. Plot summary The book is composed of sections taken from other, fictional books. The preface to the book claims th ...
'' (1986) * '' The Search for the Dice Man'' (1993) * ''
The Book of the Die George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...
'' (2000) * ''Whim'' (2002 reissue of ''Adventures of Wim'') * ''White Wind, Black Rider'' (2008). Reissue of ''Matari'' * ''Naked Before the World: A Lovely Pornographic Love Story'' (2008) * ''Jesus Invades George: An Alternative History '' (2013) * ''
Invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
'' (2016) * ''The Hairy Balls and the End of Civilization'' (unpublished)


References


External links

*
Meeting Luke Rhinehart
(2018)
GQ interview, 7 March 2012
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhinehart, Luke 1932 births 2020 deaths Cornell University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Writers from Albany, New York People from Mallorca 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers The Albany Academy alumni People who faked their own death