Mae Magnin Brussell (May 29, 1922 – October 3, 1988) was an American

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

. She was the host of ''Dialogue: Conspiracy'' (later renamed ''World Watchers International'').

Early life

Mae Magnin was born on May 29, 1922, in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

.Knight, Peter (2003)
"Mae Brussell."
In
''Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1: A–L''.
Foreword by

David Brion Davis David Brion Davis (February 16, 1927 – April 14, 2019) was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, ...

. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO
pp. 140-141.
. . Her father, Edgar Magnin, was a Reform rabbi at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.Staff writer (Jul. 14, 1941)
"Rabbi to Deliver Sunday Sermon."
''

The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the ...

'', vol. 99a, no. 8. p. 1.br>Full issue.
/ref> Her paternal great-grandparents, Isaac Magnin and Mary Ann Magnin, were the founders of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

and received an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

on June 3, 1942.

Career

She was a radio host. Much of her radio programming focused on the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She also covered the history of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. Distraught by the murder of President Kennedy, she purchased all 26 printed volumes issued by the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

report, and attempted to make sense of them by cross-indexing the entire work with stories from major newspapers and magazines that she thought showed connections and patterns that she found disturbing.Constantine, Alex (ed)
''The Essential Mae Brussell: Investigations of Fascism in America''.
Introduction by

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American writer and satirist. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key figure in t ...

. Port Townsend, Was.:

Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Feral House is known for its taboo and provocative publications, but has had significant influence in both underground circles an ...

(2014). . . Her career in radio started in May 1971 when, as a guest on the independently owned radio station KLRB, she questioned the Warren Commission. She suggested

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

might not have been the only person involved in the assassination of the president. She became a weekly guest. Shortly after, she became the host of ''Dialogue: Conspiracy'' (later renamed ''World Watchers International''). From 1983 to 1988, she hosted the same show on

KAZU KAZU (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Pacific Grove, California, and serving the Monterey Bay area of the California Coast. It is a listener-supported public radio station with a news, talk and information format ...

, a radio station based in Pacific Grove. Additionally, she wrote articles that were published in ''

The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, ...

'', a magazine published by

. An impressed

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

donated money so Krassner could afford to print Mae Brussell's work. Brussell was profiled on Season 1, Episode six of Slate's '' Slow Burn'' podcast.

Personal life

She married twice and had five children: two sons with her first husband, David Goodwin and John Goodwin; and three daughters with her second husband, Barbara Brussell, Keyenne Brussell, and Bonnie Brussell (who predeceased her in 1970).Staff writer (Oct. 4, 1988)
"Conspiracy Theorist Mae Brussell Dies of Cancer"
(

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

). '' The Monterey Herald''. Archived fro
the original.
/ref>

Death

She died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on October 3, 1988 in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

Bibliography

Articles

"What's Your Opinion?"
'' Monterey Peninsula Herald'' (Sep. 12, 1966).
"Oswald Not a Communist?"
'' Monterey Peninsula Herald'' (Jan. 17, 1967).
"Who Killed Congressman Larry McDonald?"
'' Hustler'', vol. 10, no. 8 (Feb. 1984), pp. 40–44, 46, 52, 142, 194. Photos by Ladi von Jansky.

Collected works

* Constantine, Alex (ed)
''The Essential Mae Brussell: Investigations of Fascism in America''.
Introduction by

. Port Townsend, Was.:

(2014). . .

References

External links

Official website

Interview with Keyenne Brussell
a
spitfirelist.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brussell, Mae 1922 births 1988 deaths American conspiracy theorists American people of Dutch-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American Jews American talk radio hosts Deaths from cancer in California John F. Kennedy conspiracy theorists Magnin family Mass media people from Beverly Hills, California University of California, Berkeley alumni American women radio hosts