My friend Erin Yanke (Life During Wartime/Circle A Radio) and I just finished a zine about the life of James Chasse Jr. Chasse was a schizophrenic man living in downtown Portland. He was killed by the cops while taking a walk in the heavily gentrified Pearl District for looking homeless, acting unusual and running from the cops.Chasse had been a participant in Portland’s first wave punk scene, making a zine called the Oregon Organizm and singing in bands. He was the inspiration behind the Wipers song Alien Boy.
The zine is a benefit for a film being made about his life and death, and it includes information about his murder, excerpts from his zine, his artwork, and friends’ remembrances of him and the early Portland punk scene. Chasse’s case has been kept in the spotlight mostly because of the hard work of the Mental Health Association of Portland, an advocacy group.
The zine is available from Reading Frenzy. The zine includes an audio cd/radio show about Chasse made by Erin. Erin did most of the content and I did most of lay-out.
For more information about the film Alien Boy click here.