Kenn Thomas (Steamshovel Press)
https://www.facebook.com/steamshovel.press
Good afternoon. This is Kenn's family writing. We wanted to give his friends and followers some information, including for his burial and memorial.
First, thank you to everyone who loved and respected Kenn and has paid tribute to him here. We would have posted sooner but have been overwhelmed with both grief and the logistics of planning for a stage of life that nobody really wants to think about. It also took a little while to just get into his Facebook account. (A full obituary is forthcoming.)
Kenn died at Mercy Rehab Hospital on Friday, September 22, in the early morning, probably around 5am. He had taken a very bad fall the week before at his dialysis center, where he hit his head so hard that he blacked out. He was taken to the ER where they discovered a hematoma and a brain bleed. They were finally able to stop the bleeding, and he started to get better, so he was discharged to a rehab center to get stronger. Unfortunately, his heart was not strong enough for any of this, and he died five days later, peacefully and in his sleep.
He leaves behind two children - Sara and Simon, two sisters - Mary and Bridget, four nieces - Michelle, Jackie, Brandey, and Rachel, and three nephews - Luke, Anthony, and Matthew, plus his former wife Beth who cared for him over the past three years, and close friends Jerry, Norm, and Alan, who also helped with his care.
And of course Charlie (pictured in his cover photo), the dog he loved so fiercely.
Kenn will be buried at Bellefontaine Ceremony in St. Louis, fairly close to William Burroughs, his literary hero. A Memorial is scheduled for Friday, October 20, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., in the chapel at Bellefontaine. Meet at the entrance, and the cemetery staff will lead us in a procession to the chapel and then to the burial site. We will have music, readings, and eulogies at the Memorial. If you are able to attend and would like to say a few words, there will be a time for brief "open mic" comments too.
Bellefontaine Cemetery: 4947 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis, MO 63115.
Thank you. Feel free to post tributes or personal anecdotes in the comments below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenn_Thomas
Kenn Thomas (June 12, 1958 to September 22, 2023)[1][2] was a conspiracy writer, archivist, and editor and publisher of Steamshovel Press, a parapolitical conspiracy magazine.[3]
Thomas, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, has written over a dozen books on various conspiracy topics. These include NASA, Nazis & JFK; Maury Island UFO, about the possibility that Fred Crisman was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, about the Inslaw affair. In 2004, Feral House published a new edition of The Octopus, extending the suggestion of connections to the post-September 11 attacks world and al-Qaeda. A new edition of Maury Island UFO was published by Feral House in 2011 as JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas.[4]
Thomas calls his research interest "parapolitics", the study of conspiracies of all colors—from alien abductions and the Illuminati, to the John F. Kennedy assassination and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The New Yorker called his work "on the cutting edge" of conspiracy.[citation needed] His name has become a by-word for a conspiracy theorist; enough so that baseball was described in print as involving "enough fishy behavior to keep Kenn Thomas swarming for years."[5]
Thomas appeared at Conspiracy Con in 2003[6] and 2007.[7][8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamshovel_Press
Steamshovel Press is a zine devoted to conspiracy theories and parapolitics. The magazine was started in 1992.[1] It was founded and previously published by Kenn Thomas.[2] The magazine was named after one of Bob Dylan's song, From A Buick Six from Highway 61 Revisited.[3] The headquarters is in St. Louis.[4]