Daniel Quinn

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Daniel Quinn (born October 11, 1935 in Omaha , Nebraska , † February 17, 2018 in Houston , Texas ) was an American writer and critic of modern civilization.

Life

Daniel Quinn was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1935, where he graduated from Creighton Preparatory School , a private Jesuit school . He studied at Saint Louis University , the University of Vienna , the Institute of the International Education of Students ( IES Abroad ) and Loyola University Chicago . The study time was extended by a postulate from a Trappist community in Kentucky . He hoped to become a monk there. However, his spiritual mentor Thomas Merton believed that it would be best for him to end his postulate. Quinn then renounced his Catholic faith and became a publicist .

Since 1975 he has worked as a freelance writer. Quinn's most famous work is the book Ishmael , for which he received the $ 500,000 Turner Tomorrow Fellowship Award in 1991. According to the company's own information, the prize for a single work has not been awarded since then. Ishmael is the first part of a trilogy; followed Story of example and My Ishmael . Ismael provided the idea for the movie Instinct with Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead roles.

By Ismael Quinn and its sequels in the 1990s famous and recognized author of the environmental movement and primitivism . During this time he toured the world and held many readings and discussions on his book.

While the reactions to Ishmael were mostly positive, details were discussed controversially . Quinn's statement was criticized that the population growth is the result of the modern food industry and that the support of developing countries through food aid leads to the fact that the local problems are less intensively perceived and cannot be solved by the population independently. The loss of the loyalty of the local residents to the food supply capacities of their living space inevitably leads to an enormous deterioration of the situation. Quinn argued that stopping food aid and re-establishing the relationship between people and the environment's food capacities is a better long-term remedy for famine, including through migration, by moving people from areas with low food capacity to areas with excess food production. For him, the way out of the crisis of modern society led through the establishment of a new "tribal" way of life.

In 1998, Quinn teamed up with environmental biologist Alan D. Thornhill and produced the 2 hour and 40 minute video Food Production and Population Growth , which thematizes and illuminates the ideas of his books intensively.

In 2010, Quinn gained notoriety through the American James Lee. He took three hostages in the lobby of the headquarters of the Discovery Channel and threatened to kill them. He wanted to force the station to only broadcast programs that correspond to its 11 point manifesto. In this manifesto he made direct reference to Daniel Quinn's book Ishmael's Secret . Quinn said he saw Lee as a confused fanatic who was distorting his ideas.

Ismael and Ismael's Secret have been translated into more than 20 languages: Chinese, Danish, German, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Croatian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish and Hungarian.

Quinn lived with his third wife, Rennie, in Houston, Texas, where he died in February 2018 at the age of 82.

Works (selection)

  • 1988: Dreamer
  • 1992: Ismael
  • 1996: Story of B.
  • 1996: Providence: The Story of a 50 Year Vison Quest (autobiography)
  • 1997: Ishmael's Secret
  • 1997: A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife (with Tom Whalen )
  • 1999: An Animist Testament (audio book)
  • 2000: Beyond Civilization
  • 2001: The Man Who Grew Young (with drawings by Tim Eldred)
  • 2001: After Dachau
  • 2002: The Holy
  • 2005: Tales of Adam
  • 2006: Work, Work, Work
  • 2007: If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Daniel Quinn, Obituary. In: Houston Chronicle. March 18, 2018, accessed March 21, 2018 .
  2. ^ Daniel Quinn, Alan D. Thornhill: The Food Race Cannot Be Won: Population Growth VS Food Production, Part 1/2. (Video on YouTube ; 1:24 hours) New Tribal Ventures, 1998, accessed on March 22, 2018 .
  3. ^ Dan Morse, Theresa Vargas, Michael E. Ruane: Man slain after taking hostages Man slain after taking hostages. In: The Washington Post . September 2, 2010, accessed March 22, 2018 .
  4. ↑ James Lee: My Demands: The Discovery Channel must broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet and to do the following immediately. (pdf; 17 kB) New Tribal Ventures, September 1, 2010, accessed on March 22, 2018 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Quinn, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and critic of modern civilization
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Omaha , Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH 17th February 2018
Place of death Houston , Texas