An issue of Harper's from 1905

Harper's Magazine (also called Harper's) is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally liberal perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (Scientific American is the oldest). The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010. Harper's Magazine has won many National Magazine Awards.^[2]

History[link]

Harper's Magazine was launched as Harper's New Monthly Magazine in June 1850, by the New York City publisher Harper & Brothers; who also founded Harper's Bazaar magazine, later growing to become HarperCollins Publishing. The first press run, of 7,500 copies, sold out almost immediately; circulation was some 50,000 issues six months later.^[3]

The early issues reprinted material already published in England, but the magazine soon was publishing the work of American artists and writers, and in time commentary by the likes of Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson. The first appearance in print of portions of Moby Dick occurred in Harper's Magazine in Oct. 1851 under the title, "The Town-Ho's Story".

In 1962, Harper & Brothers merged with Row, Peterson & Company, becoming Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). In 1965, the magazine was separately incorporated, and became a division of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company, owned by the Cowles Media Company.

In the 1970s, Harper's published Seymour Hersh's reporting of the My Lai massacre. In 1971, editor Willie Morris resigned under pressure from owner John Cowles, Jr., prompting resignations from many of the magazine’s star contributors and staffers, including Norman Mailer, David Halberstam, Robert Kotlowitz, Marshall Frady and Larry L. King:

Morris’s departure jolted the literary world. Mailer, William Styron, Gay Talese, Bill Moyers, and Tom Wicker declared that they would boycott Harper’s as long as the Cowles family owned it, and the four staff writers hired by Morris—Frady among them—resigned in solidarity with him.”

—Scott Sherman^[4]

Robert Shnayerson, a senior editor at TIME magazine, was subsequently hired to replace Morris as Harper's ninth editor, serving in that position from 1971 until 1976.^[5][6]

John R Chapin's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire, printed in Harper's Weekly

Lewis H. Lapham served as managing editor from 1976 until 1981; he returned to the position again from 1983 until 2006. On June 17, 1980, the Star Tribune announced it would cease publishing Harper's Magazine after the August 1980 issue; however, on July 9, 1980, John R. MacArthur and his father, Roderick, obtained pledges from the directorial boards of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Atlantic Richfield Company, and CEO Robert Orville Anderson to amass the one-and-a-half million dollars needed to establish the Harper's Magazine Foundation that currently publishes the magazine.^[7][8]

In 1984, Lapham and MacArthur—now publisher and president of the foundation—along with new executive editor Michael Pollan, redesigned Harper's and introduced the "Harper's Index" (ironic statistics arranged for thoughtful effect), "Readings", and the "Annotation" departments to complement its fiction, essays, reportage, and reviews. As of the March 2011 issue, contributing editor Zadie Smith writes the print edition's New Books column.

Under the Lapham-MacArthur leadership, Harper's magazine continued publishing literary fiction by the likes of John Updike, George Saunders, and others. Politically, Harper's was an especially vocal critic of U.S. domestic and foreign policies. Editor Lapham's monthly "Notebook" columns have lambasted the Clinton and the George W. Bush administrations, and, since 2003, the magazine has concentrated on reportage about U.S. war in Iraq, with long articles about the battle for Fallujah, and the alleged cronyism of the American reconstruction of Iraq. Moreover, other stories have covered abortion, cloning, and global warming.^[9]

In 2007, Harper's added the No Comment blog, by Scott Horton, about legal controversies, Central Asian politics, and German studies. In addition, in April 2006, Harper's began publishing the Washington Babylon blog in its site,^[10] wherein Washington Editor Ken Silverstein wrote about corrupt American politics; and in 2008, Harper's added the "Sentences" blog, by contributing editor Wyatt Mason, about literature and belle lettres; both Silverstein's and Mason's blogs have since ceased publication. Another website feature, composed by a rotating set of authors, is the Weekly Review, single-sentence summaries of political, scientific, and bizarre news; like the Harper's Index and "Findings" in the print edition of the magazine, the Weekly Review items are humorously and ironically arranged.

Controversies[link]

In an article called "Davy Crockett's Electioneering Tour" published April 1867, James Bethune (pen name of Edward Ellis) claimed to have heard a speech called "Not yours to give", given by Davy Crockett and inspired by Horatio Bunce. As it happens, Edward Ellis was not born until 1840, four years after Crockett's death and twelve years after the alleged speech. This enduring myth was debunked in 2004, the incident, and Horatio Bunce, did not exist.

In his essay "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history," published in the September 2004 issue, Lewis H. Lapham was criticized for his reportage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, which had yet to occur. He apologized in a note.^[11][12]

The March 2006 issue contained the Celia Farber reportage, Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science, presenting Peter Duesberg's theory that HIV does not cause AIDS.^[13][14] It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists,^[15] scientists,^[16] the Columbia Journalism Review,^[17] and others, as inaccurate and for promoting a scientifically-discredited theory.^[18] The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.^[19]

In summer of 2006, Harper's serially published John Robert Lennon's novel Happyland when its original publisher, W. W. Norton, decided not to publish it, fearing a libel lawsuit. The protagonist is doll magnate Happy Masters, whose story parallels the life of Pleasant Rowland, the creator of the American Girl doll business.^[20]

Notable contributors[link]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the January 3, 1863 issue

• 

  Harper's Magazine, June 1896, by Edward Penfield

See also[link]

Creative Nonfiction (magazine) J.D Salinger

References[link]

External links[link]

• Harper's website
• Library of Congress collection, searchable text of magazine from 1850 to 1899 with links to scanned pages.
• "Book and Periodical Illustration [in America, 1820-1870." American History through Literature, 1820-1870. Ed. Janet Gabler-Hover and Robert Sattelmeyer. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 144-48.

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Ben Harper
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Chase Harper
Born	(1969-10-28) October 28, 1969 (age 42) Claremont, California United States
Genres	Folk rock, blues rock, alternative rock, soul, funk rock, gospel, reggae, jam rock, neofolk
Occupations	Musician, Singer-songwriter, Humanitarian
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar, drums, percussion, vibes
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Virgin, EMI Records
Associated acts	Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama Relentless7 Vanessa da Mata Ringo Starr Fistful of Mercy
Website	www.benharper.com
Notable instruments
Weissenborn lap steel guitar

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music^[1] and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism.^[2] Harper's fan base spans several continents.^[3] His albums have been commercially successful in North America, Europe and Oceania. Harper is a two-time Grammy Award winner as well, winning awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album, in 2005.

Early life[link]

Harper was born in Claremont, in California's Inland Empire. His father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Chase-Verdries, is Jewish. His maternal great-grandmother was a Russian-Lithuanian Jew.^[4][5][6] His parents divorced when he was age five, and he grew up with his mother's family. Harper has two brothers, Joel and Peter.

Harper began playing guitar as a child.^[7][8] His maternal grandparents' music store The Folk Music Center and Museum laid a foundation of folk and blues for the artist, complemented by regular patrons Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal and David Lindley and quotes of William Shakespeare and Robert Frost made often by his grandfather.^[9] At the age of 12, Harper played his first gig.^[10] During the '80s, in his teen years, Harper began to play the slide guitar, mimicking the style of Robert Johnson. Next, Harper refined his style, taking up the Weissenborn slide guitar.^[11] Harper broke out of the Inland Empire after being offered an invitation by Taj Mahal to tour with the artist. They recorded Taj Mahal's album Follow the Drinking Gourd, released in November 1990, and toured Hawaii.^[12]

Career[link]

Harper's trademark curtain call; 2003

In 1992 Harper recorded the LP Pleasure and Pain with Folk multi-instrumentalist Tom Freund. After this limited edition record, Harper secured a record deal with Virgin Records, which released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World in 1994. This was followed by Fight For Your Mind in 1995, with Juan Nelson on bass, which became a college radio favorite and included several songs that Harper still plays live regularly. .^[13]

In 1999 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met Jack Johnson, who was unknown at the time and had not recorded. Harper obtained a demo tape of twelve of Johnson's songs that he forwarded to his producer, J.P. Plunier, with whom Johnson recorded his first album.^[14]

Harper playing the weissenborn at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario.

Early in Harper's career, his music received more attention in Europe and was widely played in Australia (first on Triple J radio). Harper has made comments on a number of occasions that his career was kicked off in Australia. While he was a well-known and respected figure in the United States, he was a star in countries like Australia, New Zealand, France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, receiving a great deal of airplay and critical acclaim. His popularity in Europe is such that he was French Rolling Stone magazine's Artist of the Year (Artiste De L'Année) in 2003,^[15] and his Australian tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside was highly successful.

In 2002, Harper was one of the featured singers covering Motown hits by Marvin Gaye in the documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown (a history of The Funk Brothers). In October 2004, Harper participated in the Vote for Change concert tour organized to benefit Moveon.org and encourage people in the swing states to vote during the 2004 U.S. presidential election. In the same month, Harper contributed a live recording of the song "Oppression" to For The Lady, a benefit album for jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2006, Harper released the double album Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at #7 on the Billboard charts. Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006 David Lynch film Inland Empire, alongside his wife Laura Dern.

Harper is part of the No Nukes group which is against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007 the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".^[16][17] Harper's collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata peaked at #1 in Brazil and Portugal. In Brazil it also won a highly coveted Prêmio Multishow for "Best Song" in 2008. Also in 2008, Harper participated in the benefit album Songs for Tibet.

On August 27, 2010, it was reported that Ben Harper had formed a band called Fistful of Mercy with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur.^[18] Fistful of Mercy released their debut record, As I Call You Down, on October 5, 2010.^[19]

On May 17, 2011, Ben Harper's official site posted that his next album was released, entitled Give Till It's Gone. The album is a continuation of recording with Relentless7.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Harper with now estranged wife, Laura Dern in December 2009

In 1996, Harper married his first wife, Joanna. They had two children, a son and daughter, Charles Joseph and Harris.^[21]

On December 23, 2005, Harper married his girlfriend of five years, actress Laura Dern. They have two children together, son Ellery Walker Harper (b. August 21, 2001) and daughter Jaya (b. November 24, 2004).

On October 8, 2010, Harper, having been married for five years, filed for divorce from Dern, citing irreconcilable differences. He is seeking joint custody of their two children, as well as asking for a denial of spousal support for Dern.^[22]

On February 7, 2012, after being spotted at the Golden Globes, it was reported that Harper and Dern had reconciled. Divorce papers have not been formally withdrawn yet.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and nominations[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live albums[link]

Other albums[link]

Virtual albums[link]

• iTunes Originals - Ben Harper
• iTunes Must Haves - Ben Harper

Singles[link]

• "Like A King / Whipping Boy" (1994)
• "Ground on Down" (1995)
• "Excuse Me Mr." (1996)
• "Gold to Me" (1996)
• "Faded" (1997) #54 UK^[62]
• "Jah Work" (1997)
• "Glory & Consequence" (1997)
• "Please Bleed" (1999)
• "Burn to Shine" (1999)
• "Forgiven" (2000)
• "Steal My Kisses" (2000) #15 U.S. Adult Top 40
• "With My Own Two Hands" (2003)
• "Diamonds On the Inside" (2003) #31 U.S. Adult Top 40
• "Brown Eyed Blues" (2004)
• "Wicked Man" (2004)
• "There Will Be a Light" (2004)
• "Better Way" (2006)
• "Both Sides Of The Gun" (2006)
• "Morning Yearning" (2006)^[63]
• "Fight Outta You" (2007) #61 Hot Canadian Digital Charts
• "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" (2007) (with Vanessa da Mata) #1 Portugal; #1 Brazil
• "In The Colors" (2008)
• "Fool For A Lonesome Train" (2008)
• "Shimmer & Shine" (2009)
• "Fly One Time" (2009)
• "Lay There & Hate Me" (2010)
• "Skin Thin" (2010)
• "The Word Suicide" (2010)
• "Never Tear Us Apart" (with INXS) (2010)
• "Rock N' Roll Is Free" (2011)
• "Don't Give Up on Me Now (2011, Italy only)
• "Walk Away" ("")

Special appearances[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

Harper played a slide guitar version of the "Star-Spangled Banner" prior to Game 3 of the 2007 NBA Finals on June 12 in Cleveland. Harper performed alongside Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and John Paul Jones at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2007. He also appears on the 2003 Pearl Jam DVD Live at the Garden where Harper plays alongside friends Pearl Jam for the songs "Daughter" & "Indifference".

Harper performed at several "Vote Obama" rallies and on the Willie Nelson show Outlaws & Angels. Harper teamed with the Skatalites to perform Fats Domino's "Be My Guest" on Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. Harper was featured, alongside Jack Johnson, playing slide guitar with Toots and the Maytals, performing their 1970s reggae hit "Pressure Drop" on Saturday Night Live.

In January 2010, Harper and his band Relentless7 performed at the Grammy Museum with Ringo Starr in support of The Beatles drummer's self-produced album, Y Not.^[64] In early 2010, Harper also performed "Ohio" at the MusiCares tribute to Neil Young.^[65]

Filmography[link]

• 1998-2001: Daria (TV) – Camp Fear ("Born to Shine"/"Faded")
• 2001: I am Sam ("Strawberry Fields Forever")
• 2002: Standing in the Shadows of Motown ("Ain't Too Proud To Beg"/"I Heard It Through the Grapevine")
• 2003: One Tree Hill (TV) – Crash Into You
• 2004: Sleepover ("Way Away")
• 2005: Trust the Man ("Everything")
• 2006: Akeelah and the Bee ("Everything")
• 2006: Newport Beach (TV) – The Dawn Patrol ("Waiting For You")
• 2006: CSI: NY (TV) – And Here's to You, Mrs. Azrael ("Walk Away")
• 2008: Daylight Robbery ("Diamonds On The Inside")
• 2009: State of Play ("Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating")
• 2009: Dr House (TV) – Brave Heart ("Faithfully Remain")
• 2010: Conan (TV) – Dead Men Don't Wear Spanx ("Father's Son")
• 2010: Les Petits Mouchoirs (French Movie) - Ludo's death ("Amen Omen")
• 2010: Vampire Diaries (TV) – Katerina ("Amen Omen")
• 2010: The Fighter ("Glory & Consequence")

DVDs[link]

• Pleasure and Pain (2002)
• Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2003)
• Live at the Apollo (2005)

References[link]

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (April 2010)