the life and death of a lying snitch

August 18, 2006 7:32 PM

The strange saga of Harvey Matusow, "most hated man in America". Said to be the most notorious of the paid perjurious snitches for the Communist witch-hunters, married 12 times, gave LSD to Robert F. Kennedy, tangled with Roy Cohn, was prison buddies with Wilhelm Reich, recorded a psychedelic Jews Harp record, started the rumor that smoking dried banana peels gets you high (as an act of revenge against Chiquita Banana), wrote one of the first how-to books on computer hacking. [via]
posted by nickyskye (20 comments total)

Great post! A full life, sometimes badly lived. And then there is this: "He invited his pal Yoko Ono and her husband to London for the gallery show where Yoko met John, making him partially responsible for breaking up The Beatles." Is that worse or better than allying with Joe McCarthy?
posted by LarryC at 8:08 PM on August 18, 2006

What an ass. He was also probably the first guy that drove off without paying from a self-service gas pump, thereby ruining it for everybody else. (nice post)
posted by marxchivist at 8:33 PM on August 18, 2006

Are you sure you're not talking about Bill Brasky?
posted by davebush at 8:55 PM on August 18, 2006

"...making him partially responsible for breaking up The Beatles."

Huh? The Beatles have broken up?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:21 PM on August 18, 2006

mesmerizing
posted by owhydididoit at 9:43 PM on August 18, 2006

I once saw Harvey Matusow eat an entire live cow and a pine log, then proceed to excrete an exquisite leather recliner.
posted by aaronetc at 10:47 PM on August 18, 2006

kinda like an evil real-life Forrest Gump...
posted by TrinityB5 at 11:55 PM on August 18, 2006

I can't help but wonder if Harvey Matusow is any relation to poker personality Mike "The Mouth" Matusow.
posted by kjh at 12:39 AM on August 19, 2006

A great story! Yes, these colorful villains are so lovable. thirty-five years from now, when Ann Coulter writes her memoirs, we'll all have a chuckle.
posted by CCBC at 2:29 AM on August 19, 2006

kinda like an evil real-life Forrest Gump...

..on lots of acid. Only that can explain "Poo Children on Mountain".
posted by goo at 4:55 AM on August 19, 2006

Aww man, that banana peel thing was just a rumor?
...throws pipe away...
posted by chillmost at 5:00 AM on August 19, 2006

> started the rumor that smoking dried banana peels gets you high (as an act of
> revenge against Chiquita Banana),

and a bubble-popping joke on every hippie in the Known Universe. Took the "dumb hippie" canard away from the John Birch Society and gave it to the world (where it thrives to this day.)
posted by jfuller at 6:37 AM on August 19, 2006

Took the "dumb hippie" canard away from the John Birch Society and gave it to the world

Because smart people always take their cues from John Birchers.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:14 AM on August 19, 2006

kinda like an evil real-life Forrest Gump...

Such a good description of this guy.
posted by nickyskye at 8:23 AM on August 19, 2006

LSD to Robert F. Kennedy... recorded a psychedelic Jews Harp record

I'd say these two very good things balance his karma out pretty evenly.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:29 AM on August 19, 2006

Damn that guy - I tried drying and smoking a banana peel when I was around 10 or 12, and always figured I had done something wrong because I didn't get high.

Luckily, I discovered pot shortly thereafter, rendering further experimentation unnecessary.

Now, how about nutmeg? Is that rumor false, too?
posted by bashos_frog at 7:20 PM on August 19, 2006

Check erowid for details of the nutmeg experience. Ugh.

I love telling kids that banana peels will get 'em high. ;-)
posted by five fresh fish at 8:21 PM on August 19, 2006

an act of revenge against Chiquita Banana...

"And our marketing department says that sales to stoners who save the skin and throw the rest of the banana away are up 286%! Unfortuately, our sister company Grande Pineapple is currently floundering, but they're trying to start a feud with Harvey Matusow... "
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:04 AM on August 20, 2006

Bashos_frog: a wise old hippy (he must have been over 30) once told me that man was meant to get out of it, but not by nutmeg. Which is to say, yes, it does work, and no, it's not worth the experience.
posted by Sparx at 2:25 PM on August 20, 2006

Tried to get high off nutmeg exactly once. I can still taste it in the back of my mouth. More horrible than the horriblest thing ever.
This is such a nifty post, by the way, thank you!
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 6:30 AM on August 21, 2006