Who's Who in Hell (NY: Barricade Books, 1,260 pages, $125.00)

See and hear the CNN telecast by clicking below:

http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/08/30/moos.whos.who.hell

Some reviews of Warren Allen Smith's book:

 

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (Sri Lanka)

Publisher's Weekly (New York)

Gay & Lesbian Humanist (United Kingdom)

The Freethinker (England)

New Humanist (London)

Die Welt (Berlin)

Dr. Innaiah Narisetti (India)

Finngeir Hiorth (Norway)

Rationalist and Humanist (New Zealand)

Fig Leaves (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Freethought Perspective (Toledo, Ohio)

Amazon.com

Pique (New York)

Choice

When the 7-pound baby was delivered to him in Colombo, Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote,

Ruptured postman just staggered away from the front door. My wrists are aching. When is the paperback coming out? Read my own entry first, of course&emdash;only error found was ref to the ISU. Its campus is in France, not Sri Lanka. Just spotted my circumcision quote on opposite page! So far, enjoyed Whitman, Melville. Congratulations on an awesome accomplishment!

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY (21 August 2000, p. 56)

Smith's enormous reference work aims for the libraries and living rooms of people who don't believe in a personal God, and who care a lot about their disbelief. Despite the raunchy title, Smith, a freelance writer, takes no interest (except coincidentally) in debauchery or evildoing. Instead, he's compiled a biographical dictionary (with subject entries interspersed) of tens of thousands of freethinkers, secular humanists, Unitarian Universalists, Ethical Culture activists and famous folks who hewed to no religious creed. There are the great dead, like George Eliot and David Hume. There are present-day blasphemers and secularist writers, from Woody Allen and Salman Rushdie to philosopher Richard Rorty and novelist Will Self. There are newsmakers who happened to be "non-theists," like New Wave singer Gary Numan, Chinese democracy activist Xiao Xuehui, physicist Leo Szilard, runner Jesse Owens (a Unitarian--for Smith, this counts). There are figures from the history of "free thought," ethical culture and secular humanism, like Scottish editor William Ross ("Saladin") and Supreme Court plaintiff Vashti McCollum. And there are people who seem to be there just for the heck of it, like atheist, elephant-hunter and WWI casualty Sir Frederick Courteney Selous. Entries range from one sentence to several dense columns, subject entries include "Torture," "Semantics," "Nepalese humanists," "Homosexuality," "Cocaine" and, of course, "Hell." When Sartre wrote that "Hell is other people," he may not have had so many in mind, but if unbelievers get to spend eternity in this varied, illustrious company, a season in Hell might be a treat. (October)

This amazing tome is the result of 50 years' research by its compiler Warren Allen Smith, a gay Humanist activist and journalist who lives in Greenwich Village, New York. Smith has written for US Humanist publications and G&LH.

With 1,238 pages and over 10,000 entries, the book is described in the promotional leaflet as 'a Handbook and International Directory for Freethinkers, Humanists, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non Theists' and 'the most complete A to Z listing of thousands of freethought subjects and non-believers from the past to the present'. However, the entries also include agnostics and Unitarians and, according to the second on Unitarianism, Unitarians comprise both theists and nontheists. There is a very useful index at the back of the book, in which those listed are grouped together according to their profession.

There are many people listed whom I have never heard of, although given the huge overall number, this is hardly surprising. As well as towering freethought figures such as Charles Bradlaugh MP, the nineteenth-century founder of the UK National Secular Society, and Robert G. Ingersoll, the American lawyer and orator - both of whom rate around a page - there are hundreds of much lesser figures (including me!) who, understandably, rate only a few lines.

I spotted a few omissions, including the American harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler, who wrote the score for the film Genevieve, and Alan Turing, the UK gay atheist mathematician who broke the Germany Enigma code during World War Two and was the founder of the modern computer. Although the antithesis of Humanists, atheists such as Mussolini and Stalin, are rightly included.

Inevitably, perhaps, I was most intrigued by the gay entries, especially those that have a connection with GALHA - and there are quite a few. Smith has obviously made good use of G&LH to list a number of GALHA members both living and deceased - seventeen of the former (including one who has lapsed and one who has become a born-again Christian and resigned!) and six of the latter - including a founder member, Brian Parry. Another founder member, Jim Herrick, is given a substantial entry by virtue of his immense contribution to the UK and international Humanist movements.

Many other gays (mostly deceased) are listed, including Francis Bacon, Benjamin Britten, Paul Cadmus, Quentin Crisp, E. M. Forster, Sir John Gielgud, Langston Hughes, Larry Kramer, Christopher Marlowe, Somerset Maugham . . . the list is - almost - endless.

Though undoubtedly a very serious tome, it is often lightened with humorous ancdotes such as the one quoted in the entry for Lytton Strachey: 'When, as a conscientious objector in World War I, Strachey was asked what he would do if a foreign soldier tried to rape his sister, he replied dryly, "Do my best to get between them." '

Altogether, this is a fascinating, well-researched book and an invaluable work of reference. It's a pity the high price precludes its reaching a wider readership.

- George Broadhead

Amazon.com Reviewer: Dr. HARLEY R MYLER, Central Florida U, Orlando, FL

Warren Allen Smith's "Who's Who in Hell" is an incredible work that is sure to please the most jaded agnostic or "get God off the currency" atheist. An astonishing compendium of many years of research and personal experience, Smith has produced a classic that should be placed in every reference section of every library. You can't help but be fascinated by the exhaustive list of entries and the poignant writing style. Many priests, pastors, ministers, shaman and popes will be hiding in the closet with this book.

They are all here, from Jeppe Aakjaer, a Danish non-theist, to Randall Zwinge, better known as the Amazing Randi, 1,238 pages of biographical and factual entries for the denizens of [H]ell. Persons known for their independence from supernatural nonsense are not the only entries. Add extensive descriptions of subject matter, organizations and publications of interest to unbelievers. Further, some people are entered in distinct type for what they have said or written of interest, although they themselves may not have been free thinkers. Print size distinguishes between major entries and items of only peripheral interest. In this way the author manages the problems of identifying matters of unbelief versus issues of a merely secular nature.

How do we assess a specialized encyclopedia? One way is to compare entries with a standard source. A look at the listing for Philip Freneau (1752-1832) in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia provides an entire thumbnail sketch of the Revolutionary era poet. This includes his middle name, which is missing in Hell. But Encarta lacks the information that he was an unbeliever, or at least a deist who accepted the need for a prime mover but not the Christian god. Who's Who in Hell gives us not only that information, but cites a six stanza poem to illustrate the case. Entries in this work differ from standard sources in information, in size, and in emphasis, making it clear that Hell fills a specialized need. Many standard biographical sources simply do not inform the reader if the entry represents a free thinker, an unbeliever, a Unitarian, or a deist. This one does, or, where there is doubt, at least discusses the issue.

So who do we find in this compilation? Many very famous and well known people. Our first four presidents along with many Enlightenment thinkers definitely did not believe in the standard Christian Deity. There is a long list of Nobel Laureates in Hell; peace winners: Angell and Nansen; literature: Shaw, Camus, and Hemingway; science, Weinberg, Curie, and Pauling, among many others. Many other scientists, artists, writers, and philosophers have made the cut. Mark Twain (p. 220) truly had it accurately: "Heaven for the climate, [H]ell for the company." We would also meet some rather unwholesome types. Revolutionary thinker Karl Marx, a converted Jew was an atheist, and some would claim he invented his own religion. Also present Josif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili generally known as Stalin. Not, however, Adolph Hitler, who despite many believers' claims to the contrary, remained a Catholic to the end of his life. Also missing are Idi Amin, because he was a Muslim, and Pol Pot, who probably should be in the real Hell.

Any author who characterizes persons by their degree of unbelief or doubt about god faces enormous problems. In the first place he has to have some definition of god and religion to identify those who deny them. In the second, persons may say and write many different things over a long life, as well as change their beliefs or attitude over time. Finally, many important persons had reasons to keep their doubts to themselves. Thus, some biographers have denied that Darwin or Mark Twin were agnostics. Some persons were quite critical of religion, without however denying god or stating clearly where they stood. Not many modern American politicians will admit to unbelief. The English novelist Kingsley Amis is listed as having written some devastating criticisms of Christianty, without ever being involved in freethought. A similar argument applies to the Nobel laureate in literature Selma Lagerlof.

Smith struggles with these problems, and many will be the criticisms leveled at him, but it is not useful to dwell at length on errors. The book must be regarded as a valiant pioneering effort, which will improve with revision. Where else could you find the case for John Lennon's atheism, Doris Lessing's progress from religion to Marxism to unbelief, or that Joe Levee "is one of the more forward-looking secular humaniss" (p. 664).

THE FREETHINKER (London, England, September 2000)

It's nice to know you're going to fry surrounded by good conversationalists. This Who's Who in Hell is very inclusive--presumably on the grounds that most people would opt for the heat of free ideas rather than the tranquility of non-thinking. Warren Allen Smith has gathered together as many living and dead freethinkers as he can find space for in the 1,200 pages of this encyclopaedic work. It's a one man encyclopaedia and therefore a remarkable achievement. Also, for such a mighty individual compilation, I suppose it would be impossible to avoid mistakes.

Your editor, Barry Duke--not one for missing a chance to enjoy a trip to hell--is included, although only so far as to be "acting editor" of the Freethinker. No doubt now that he is the full-blown editor, there will be a special seat reserved for him next to some handsome devil.

Barbara Smoker rightly has her place of honour as President of the National Secular Society for more than 20 years. For the sake of accuracy it should be pointed out that her bookled "Humanism" was not published by the "British Rationalist Association" (a non-existent body), but by Ward Lock Educational, then by the NSS and British Humanist Association.

The National Secular Society's General Secretary, Keith Porteous Wood, is described as a "radical campaigner in a business suit" and as someone who has campaigned for gay rights--for which he will no doubt receive a particularly warm welcome in hell.

Most of the entires are people rather than institutions or ideas as the Who's Who title would imply. But a few other items keep the reader reading--and it is very unusual in being an encyclopaedia which is enjoyable to read. (Perhaps one might remember the readability of Pierre Bayle and Voltaire, who produced dictionary/encyclopaedias with their own particular stamp.)

There are items from "Cosmology" to "homosexual marriage", from "human sacrifice" to "penis", from "Mars" to "Messiah". The breadth of the entries is breathtaking: from "sperm" to "Spinoza", from "Iowa Humanists" to "Ionesco", from "Richard Jefferies" to "Japanese Unitarian Universalists". No one could read this packed volume without learning something.

But it might be asked: is a penchant for the salacious a good thing in such a volume? Is information about Rousseau's excitement over spanking going to improve such a work? Well, the reader is kept turning the pages and humorous entries also ensure enjoyment. Woody Allen, for example, is quoted as saying "Why is man unable to find God, or a plumber, on weekends?"

Warren Allen Smith describes himself in his own entry as a "roué and sybarite currently living in New York City's Greenwich Village". He has presumably earned a prominent place for himself down below, for he has certainly produced a hell of an anthology.

--Richard Harrison

NEW HUMANIST (London) September 2000

This vast cornucopia of conversationalists, this gallimaufry of the wicked cannot but amuse and delight the reader. As the title suggests, this is an anthology of individuals rather than ideas or institutions, reading for the gossip correspondent in hell rather than the prayer leader up above. Tim Madigan in his Foreword quotes Ingersoll: 'Heaven for the climate. Hell for the company.' Though I might think that celestial warming may be reaching the heavenly zones, now that so many priests no longer believe what they preach.

The 1200 page Who's Who is compiled by one person - so it is not surprising some errors creep in. Ivor Russell, the Chairman of the RPA, could hardly be President in Scotland of the West Glamorgan Humanists without some radical geographical alterations. The Indian novelist Arandathi Roy is a woman not a man. Paine wrote the two parts of The Age of Reason before and after he was in prison and not while incarcerated during the terror. But one should not be too carping when we are presented with such a wealth of enticing material.

There are short selections not related to those nefarious individuals that provide the body of this work. A section on Mystery and Mysteries concludes with a quote from George Santayana: 'Mysticism is not religion, but a religious disease.' Democracy is given ten lines, an item on 'E-mail' lists the e-mail addresses of the main world humanist journals - some of them already out of date. 'Onion' sits surprisingly by 'Ontology' - Onion being an American Midwest publication that deals satirically with religion. 'Ontology' has too short an entry for a complex concept.

But it is with the people that the volume delights: Pinter and Pirandello are two dramatists who happily find themselves side by side; Francis Place (1771-1854), an Englishman who propagated atheism, unionism and population control lies not far from Polina (c. 70-121), a Roman Empress and epicurean; Premanand, the Indian activist, whose shows debunking superstition have much impressed me, is close to Joseph Priestly (1733-1804), the scientist and Unitarian. What a babble of sparkling conversations we might hope to hear in hell.

Ocasionally I find Warren Allen Smith too inclusive. Haydn may have had connections with the masons, but was surely a devout Catholic. Graham Greene, whose novels I admire, was a thorn in the flesh of the Catholic Church, but for all his unorthodoxy, he is revealed in his novels as a man of profound beliefs.

The wit that permeates the volume reminds one of Voltaire's Dictionnaire Philosophique or Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire Historique et Critique rather than such sober works as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I suppose that all encyclopaedias will soon be available on the internet, but it is worth having Warren Allen Smith's tome for constant dipping into - for enlightenment, for entertainment, for the familiar, for the resuscitated. And for those of you who like to read up in advance on those you are going to meet, here is a sure fire method of preparing for those heated arguments and warm friendly exchanges you can expect down below.

Jim Herrick

DIE WELT (26.8.00)

"Fahrt zur Hölle: Mr. Smith listet Amerikas Gottlose enzyklopädisch auf"

Von Carl Schmidt-Polex

"Trip to Hell: Mr. Smith Compiles an Encyclopedic List of America's Godless"

[translation by Dennis Middlebrooks]

Thomas Mann bears responsibility for this bound Giant. That, in any case, claims jack of all trades New York entrepreneur Warren Allen Smith, who recently introduced his life's work: "Who's Who in Hell," a 1,237 page encyclopedia costing $125 about the godless of this world. Relentlessly, this self-declared atheist has been searching out spiritual brethren ever since December 23, 1948.

Thomas Mann trägt Schuld an dem gebundenem Monstrum. Das behauptet jedenfalls der New Yorker Allerlei-Unternehmer Warren Allen Smith, der kürzlich sein Lebenswerk vorlegte: "Who's Who in Hell". Eine 1237-Seiten EnzyklopUadie für 125 Dollar über die Gottlosen dieser Erde. Erbarmungslos fahndete der erklärte Atheist nach Brüdern und Schwestern im Geiste - seit dem 23, Dezember 1948.

On that day, the German Nobel Prize winner succinctly responded to Smith (at the time a student) who posed the question whether he, the author of The Magic Mountain, was a freethinker or a naturalist: "I leave that to you." This was an affront to Smith: "The world deserves clearer answers."

An disem Tag antwortete der deutsche Nobel-Preisträger dem damaligen Studenten Smith brieflich auf dessen Frage, ob er, der Autor des "Zauberbergs", Atheist, Freidenker oder Naturalist sei: "Das Möchte ich Ihnen überlassen." Für Smith ein Herausforderung: "Die Welt hat klarere Antworten verdient."

Here, as a result, are the names of a few contemporaries that Smith, during his life-long investigations, found unappealing and prime candidates for a place in Hell:

Hier also die Namen einiger Zeitgenossen, die Smith bei seinen lebenslangen Untersuchungen unangenehm aufgefallen und reif für ein Plätzchen in der Hölle sind:

America's most successful money-makers, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The latter had uttered the (for Smith) treacherous words: "I believe in the dollar and nothing else after that." Smith outs people across geographical lines and levels of fame: Charles Dickens and Matisse, Arthur Ochs, the boss of The New York Times, (Punch Sulzberger Jr., Ted Turner, and Larry King. Salmon Rushdie is dear to the author's heart. Gore Vidal cries out for acceptance.

Amerikas erfolgreichste Money-maker Bill Gates und Warren Buffett. Letzterer hatte einmal den für Smith den verräterischen Satz losgelassen: "Ich glaube an den Dollar und damnn kommt lange nichts." Geoutet wird quer durch Geografie und Bedeutung - Charles Dickens und Matisse, der Boss der "New York Times", Arthur Ochs, (Punch) Sulzberger Jr., Ted Turner und Larry King. Salman Rushdie schrieb sich ins Herz des Autors, Gore Vidal bat um Aufnahme.

Hollywood Babylon - Paul Newman and Bruce Willis, George Clooney and Carrie Fisher. Smith reserves a cell in Hell for whoever makes a slip of the tongue like the one uttered by singer Barry Manilow. Manilow admitted to a reporter: "My God is called Clive Davis, and he is the boss of my record company." Marlon Brando and the chronic film neurotic Woody Allen have arouned the displeasure of the author on moral grounds.

Hollywood Babylon - Paul Newman und Bruce Willis, George Clooney und Carrie Fisher. Wer immer einen Fehler wie der S¶anger Barry Manilow beging, dem reservierte Smith eine Zelle in der Hölle. Manilow hatte einem Reporter gestanden: "Mein Gott hei[B]t Clive Davis und der ist Boss meiner Plattenfirma." Marlon Brando und der chronische Film-Neurotiker Woody Allen haben den Unwillen des Autors Smith aus moralischen Gründen erregt.

Still, 10,000 sinners, among them more than 50 Nobel Prize winners, have been identified and made public by Smith, who was raised by strict Methodist parents. The enemy, i.e., the faithful majority of Americans, have not as yet reacted. Joe Zwilling, the speaker of the Arch Diocese of New York, contents: "That there are people who do not believe in God is not exactly news."

Immerhin, 10 000 Sünder, darunter mehr als 50 Nobel-Preisträger, hat der von strengen Methodisten-Eltern erzogene Warren Allen Smith dingfest und jetzt publik gemacht. Der Feind, also die gläubige Mehrheit der Amerikaner, hat bisher nicht reagiert. Joe Zwilling, der Sprecher der New Yorker Erzdiozöse, meint: "Dass es Menschen gibt, die nicht an Gott glauben, ist alles andere als eine Neuigkeit."

Warren Allen Smith responds:

Mr. Schmidt-Polex obviously and completely misunderstood the book's theme and my purpose. The book makes clear that there is no such place as Hell, that if there were one would choose it over Heaven if for no other reason than that one would be with such interesting company.

This is the first encyclopedic, A-to-Z listing of humanists, atheists, rationalists, agnostics, skeptics, secularists, and unbelievers throughout the world from ancient times until the end of the 20th century.

Smith also includes correspondence about humanism and interviews with several individuals and explains the philosophic terms of humanist free-thinking. The uniqueness of the listing, with brief bio-data, is the inclusion of some web sites and e-mail addresses of individuals.

The listing includes: Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, Protagoras, Erasmus, Diderot, Voltaire, John Dewey, A. J. Ayer, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, Pierre Boulez, Marlon Brando, Noam Chomsky, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Gore Vidal, Salmon Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Katherine Hepburn, 50 Nobel Prize winners, and contemporary humanists of all countries who have gone unnoticed hitherto.

The book makes a case not only for respectability but also for the positive and creative outlook of humanists, freethinkers, rationalists, and non-theists. Smith is a retired teacher and recording studio entrepreneur who lives in Greenwich Village, New York. His contributions and reviews in Free Inquiry, full of satire and wit, are well-known. This book is the effort of five decades by Smith.

[Printed in "WASHline, the newsletter of the Washington, D.C., Area Secular humanists and reprinted in various other newsletters, including the Long Island Secular humanists Inquirer.]

Smith responded to the editor of Fri Lanke:

Finngeir Hiorth has informed me that in a review for Fri Tanke he found my work, Who's Who in Hell: a Handbook and International Directory for Humanists, Freethinkers, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non-Theists "an unfinished humanist symphony with some dissonances" and suggests the task was "too big for one man, or at least for Warren Allen Smith."

I trust that other Norwegians will be sufficiently skeptical to question this, that they will check my book, the title of which he reports incorrectly. It is a handbook, a reference book, an account of freethought at the end of the last century. His objection to my including Swedenborg overlooks the handbook's purpose of separating "the good from the bad guys." If, for example you wonder about Swedenborg, Paul deMan, Jacques Maritain, Reinhold Niebuhr, Seamus Heaney, and Knut Hamsun, the reader will find they are included in small 7-point font to show they are non-naturalists of only peripheral interest to secular humanists. Hitler, for example, and Oscar Wilde are cited as having died a Catholic. And Unitarians Coleridge, Emerson, and Priestley, for example, were included because of their freethinking theologies that broke barriers in their time. "The good guys" are shown in large, boldface print.

Hiorth in a separate letter asked me to change but one word in his long entry: "but" instead of "because." It was the first time any Norwegian had assisted in my international venture, although I received much input from Sweden, Australia, Canada, India, Central America, England, France, Nepal, et cetera. A British scholar once warned that I should double-check Hiorth's facts, which I think I did admirably in the 16-megabyte tome. However, I do welcome suggestions for any 2nd edition, and Hiorth has kindly forwarded a few suggested changes. For example, Arundhati Roy and Bente Sandvig are females, not males, and he suggested a few changes for entries (that I copied from International Humanist & Ethical Union materials). As to whether Babu and Innaiah are family names or first names, I followed these individuals' own usage. Some helpful South Americans have pointed out that the presidents of Brazil and Chile can now be included, Steve Allen has now died, Jane Fonda left her husband Ted Turner and became a believer, and the book contains e-mail and snail-mail addresses that have changed. Just the same, the book is a record of freethought at the end of 1999.

I am in hopes someone other than Hiorth will translate his review and e-mail it to me at <wasm@idt.net>, for I think he may entertain other misconceptions. At least he is not as far off as a German reviewer who mistook the book's title to signify that I had collected names of people who are wicked and deserve to go to Hell. As my book makes clear, and with a humor that is seldom found in humanist works, Hell is non-existent, a theological invention. However, I do report on page 498 that in Hell there really are six humanists: in Hell, the town north of Trondheim, Norway.

If you want to see the international CNN review on the Web, the following address is good on the day I am writing:

http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/08/30/moos.whos.who.hell

Who's Who in Hell is such a massive undertaking that it seems churlish and ungrateful to criticise. And yet, I am bound to observe that this is a flawed work. First of all, there seems to be some uncertainty as to what sort of reference work this is. The main reference work for the freethought world is the Encyclopedia of Unbelief (Prometheus, 1985) which carries entries on prominent freethought individuals as well as articles on aspects of freethought. Who's Who in Hell seems unable to decide whether it is a replacement to the Encyclopedia of Unbelief or a directory of people who are freethinkers of one stripe or another. Unfortunately, the work hasn't succeeded in doing either to the level required to make it invaluable. Many of the topical entries are eclectic collections of bits taken from here and there and put together. This is not to say the entries are uninteresting, but it does mean that they shouldn't be seen as anything more than a complement to the Encyclopedia of Unbelief.

As the title suggests, it's as a who's who that this work should properly be judged. But the problems continue. To begin with, there are a fair number of people who one is surprised to find in the book at all. For example, the English philosopher Bryan Magee rates a mention. It is correct to note that Magee is generally atheistic, but he is specifically hostile to what he has described as the shallows of rationalist humanism. Even more jarring is the inclusion of Charles Loring Brace (1826-1890), described as a Unitarian and philanthropist. But Brace also wrote Gesta Christi: A History of Humane Progress under Christianity (1882) in which he attributed all progress to benevolent Christians and all setbacks to malevolent unbelievers. He has no place in this book. One also has to question the inclusion policy of some entries. Why, for instance, does Robin Mowat, known even to fellow New Zealanders only as an itinerant ex-serviceman, rate an entry of the same length as that of V Gordon Childe, a prominent and prolific Australian archaeologist and prehistorian? And are we any further ahead with the entry 'Greene, John Gardner (20th century). Greene has been a member of the American Humanist Association' (page 459). There are many entries with no more information than this.

Then there are the errors that can only be described as sloppy. There is an entry for 'J Bowden (20th Century)' which includes a couple of items. But then, two entries later, there is an entry on 'John Bowden, 1888-1981', featuring some of the same information. This is, of course the same person. Then there is Lord Ritchie-Calder, who has one entry under 'R' and another entry under 'C'. The amount and quality of information on this single individual differs quite widely in the two entries. The same happens for Richard Blithell (wrong) and Richard Bithell (right). Neither entry gives the correct date of birth or any date of death (1902), even though that is freely available in English histories that Smith must have had access to. There are, unfortunatley, many examples of this sort of error or poor proofing.

Despite all this negativity, there is no question at all that Warren Allen Smith has done the Humanist movement a great service. To be able to leaf through such an impressivwe variety of people makes one almost look forward to the day we meet them all in hell. Clearly, it's going to be a lot more fun than heaven. It's especially intersting to see the actors, playwrights, novelists we'll meet there. This should help to dispel the prejudice of humanism as a way of life only for pointy-heads. But to be truly useful, it is important that a slimmed-down, more rigorously selected and edited work appears sometime in the future.

Bill Cooke

Editor, The New Zealand Rationalist & Humanist

FREETHOUGHT PERSPECTIVE Dec 1999-Jan 2001 (Box 562 Bandon, Oregon 97411)

What fun it was going through this 1,260 page book and finding so many write-ups of people who have written for Freethought Perspedctive. FP was mentioned dozens of times throughout the book. Let's all thank our great editor and friend, Leland W. Ruble, for the gift of this wonderful paper and for publishing all of our freethought!

Warren Allen Smith's Who's Who in Hell was featured recently on CNN and I was able to see the segment three times. It also had a very favorable write-up in Publisher's Weekly (August 2000). In part it said, "Smith's enormous reference work aims for the libraries and living rooms of . . . people who care about their disbelief. Smith has compiled a biographical dictionary of thousands of freethinkers and famous folks who follow no religious creed."

There are those from past centuries like Jefferson, Paine, Voltaire, Lincoln, and Goethe. There are present day blasphemers like Woody Allen, Kate Hepburn, Salman Rushdie, Steve Allen and Ted Turner. There are worldwide historical figures. And here is a list of FP contributors. As Sartre wrote, "Hell is other people." And he probably wasn't referring to atheists. You're going to love this book! I hope I didn't leave out any of you who contribute writing to FP and re in this book:

Dr. Newton Joseph, Marge Mignacca, Dexter Martin, Joe Polansky, Lorie Polansky, Stephen Van Eck, Stephen Frey, Bill C. Walker, Dr. A. J. Mattill, Dr. Joe Vikin, Dr. William Harwood, Dave E. Matson, Robert Rouchaud, Jesse Bailey, Carl Shapiro, Jerry Brown, Richard Nelson, Temy Beal, Charlotte Poe, Farrell Till, Dr. Fred Whitehead, Robb Marks, Chaz Bufe, Mila Tiefenbach, Bob Truett, Fred Woolworth, Charles Schisler, Louis W. Cable, Ronald C. Tobin, Robert L. Johnson, Marie Elena Castle, Judith Hayes, John C. Parker, Sol Abrams, Abram Carter, Bill Grigg, Dr. Kaz Dziamka, Frank Zindler, Wayne Aiken, and many, many more.

 

How glad I am to be in that HELL book!

With Jefferson and Sartre! Take a look!

See Dewey, Paine, Hume, Rushdie and Voltaire.

Just all the world's great thinkers you'll find there.

Yes, being in the book is just so cool!

I love the company! I'm no fool!

Sure never thought I'd love to be in HELL!

I love it, and I'm proud of it as well!

Dorothy B. Thompson, Ph. D.

---

Pique (Newsletter of the Secular Humanist Society of New York)

January 2001

I'm not a subscriber, but I was shown the recent Who's Who in Hell review [Pique, October, 2000] by John Arents, who calls it "a great book for browsing." I found it a highly valuable A to Z listing, particularly helpful in analyzing philosophers' viewpoints as well as the philosophies of major writers in the humanities. It's advertised as being as important a handbook about humanism as any since Joseph McCabe's Encyclopedia of Freethought (1948).

The enormous book (1,260 pages that weigh 7 pounds!) tells how in the 1950s some Greenwich Village humanists sparred with the existentialists (at the Rienzi) as well as with Dorothy Day Catholics (at the White Horse Tavern). I find that in 1958 Irving Levy helped form a New York chapter of Britain's Rationalist Press Association, then contributed numbers of books to the 42nd Street Library. I find over two dozen freethought groups are now in New York State. Then I notice that groups in all 50 states are named, along with their officers and mail or homepage addresses. It's that kind of handbook.

Unlike most secular humanist and freethought materials, however, it's fun! Who knew that Origen lost his penis; that Napoleon's is here in New York; or, according to Gore Vidal, that the well-endowed Bishop of Ephesus, Timothy, was once an acolyte and "love toy" of St. Paul? Or that the atheist novelist Mary McCarthy enjoyed sexual exploits with Philip Rahv and Max Eastman; that Margaret Sanger called historian H. G. Wells "a sort of naughty boy-man" in bed; that Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife was happy when President Franklin Pierce appointed her husband consul at Liverpool, concerned at their neighbor Herman Melville's attention to her husband; or that Hawthorne would die in Pierce's arms, which gave gossips more material? Or that Jean-Paul Sartre was Albert Schweitzer's first cousin?

The entries about philosophy are especially helpful, particularly if you don't know much about epistemology or post-modernism. Also, Smith dishes the dirt about fellow freethinkers in a disinterested way. For example, he quotes a 1976 letter to him from Mad Madalyn O'Hair, in which she says of humanists that she wants no part "of the warped thinking that goes on with them." He quotes a lengthy critique of the Ethical Society group by Jeff Hornback, once a leader, that is sure to raise eyebrows. He cites Fred Whitehead's extensive historical research about the various humanist and freethought groups. He seems to have read every freethought journal, and he not only lists them but also lists authors of their articles -- in this respect, the work is far handier and more readable than Gordon Stein's work. . . .

English, German, and other reviews are found (as well as a place to buy the bok for $99) at http://idt.net/~wasm/rationalistsny.htm. . . .

Jim Duncan

Alongside Malcolm Jay's Fifty Years at the Craps Tables (2000) and Leonard R. N. Ashley's The Complete Book of Werewolves (forthcoming, 2001) stands this work of a lifetime by a self-described "roué and sybarite" espousing "naturalistic humanism." Openly scorning scholarly standards, Smith cuts and pastes without quotation marks, sometimes lifting entire entries ("Eros," "Sisphyus") from standard references. He laces everything with his own ridicule of the religious, introducing Jesus, for instance, by describing the invention of kites. He devotes a page to himself, much more than to Benjamin Franklin or James Thurber. A day care teacher (Sherford, 3rd entry) can earn an entry merely by signing a humanist manifesto, or recording artists (Tool) by singing a lyric against beliefs. Topics appear with no clear relation to the book's alleged purpose: "Neanderthal Man," "Sex-Change Operations," "Shit." Smith bewilders himself sometimes, as when he can't figure out who the "Friedrich" was (Frederick the Great) whom Emperor Joseph II so admired. Still, the book can serve as a first reference or "appetizer" for serious engagement with free thought. Applicable for general readers with tolerance or taste for frequent comedy, nonsense, and vulgarity.

P. S. Spalding, Illinois College

>> Forum: uk.philosophy.humanism

Subject: Who's Who in Hell

Date: 09/08/2000

Author: johnbosley <johnbosley@ntlworld.com>

As for those lists of past/famous humanists, people may have seen the review of 'Who's Who in Hell' by Warren Allen Smith [Barricade Books, NY] in the latest 'Freethinker'. Sounds like a good read as well as informative. For those of you who do not know of 'The Freethinker' - the secular humanist monthly - find it at www.freethinker.co.uk

I would not be without it. John Bosley [UK] ITALY

19.09.2000 Al papa in omaggio un libro con la lista dei vip non credenti

E' uscito "Who's Who in Hell", un libro "nero" che contiene una lunga lista di personaggi noti (il volume conta ben 1026 pagine), stampati in rigoroso ordine alfabetico, che non credono nel messaggio biblico.Da Issac Asimov a Katherine Hepburne, passando per Einstein, Dietrich, Picasso, Larry King, sono in molti coloro che "bruceranno all'inferno", secondo l'autore di "Chi e' chi all'inferno". E accanto ai nomi di antichi illustri come il sofista Protagora, o il materialista Democrito, o di filosofi come Hume, Russel o Sartre, compaiono anche l'autore di fantascienza Arthur C.Clarke, i musicisti come Beethoven e Brahms, gli attori come Charlie Chaplin, Christopher Reeve, George Clooney, o Woody Allen (famosa una sua battuta nel film Harry a pezzi, "sono agnostico. Ma credo un po' all'ateismo"). Lo ha scritto un ateo, Warren Allen Smith, che ha dedicato questo libro a tutti i non credenti, affermando: "Siamo in ottima compagnia". Una copia omaggio e' stata spedita dall'autore al papa.

Who's Who in Hell

Direktori Tokoh Atheis dan Agnotis Sepanjang Masa Penulis: Kurniawan detikcom - Jakarta

Judul: Who's Who in Hell: A Handbook and International Directory for Freethinkers, Humanists, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non-Theists

Pengarang : Warren Allen Smith

Penerbit : Barricade Books, New York, Waktu Terbit: 2000 ISBN : 1-56980-158-4

Judul buku ini saja begitu mengejutkan. Lebih mengejutkan lagi isinya. Buku setebal 1200 halaman lebih ini mendaftar orang-orang atheis, humanis, free thinker, agnostik, atau secara umum orang-orang tanpa kepercayaan atau tanpa agama. Disusun oleh Warren Allen Smith selama lebih dari 50 tahun, Who's Who in Hell adalah direktori kedua tentang tokoh dan tema tentang kebebasan berpikir sejak dulu hingga kini. Buku pertama yang sejenis pernah terbit adalah karya Pierre Sylvain Marèchal Dictionnaire des athèes (1798).

Smith mendaftar lebih dari 10.000 nama-nama, diantaranya Sang Sofis Protagoras, Demokritos Sang Materialis, Voltaire yang Deistik, Emerson yang Transendentalis, juga para filsuf seperti Ayer, John Dewey, David Hume, Bertrand Russel, George Santayana, Noam Chomsky, dan Sartre.

Rentang tokoh yang dikumpulkannya sangat luas. Selain para filsuf di atas, dia juga menyebut sastrawan, pengusaha, dan ilmuwan. Maka, muncullah pula nama-nama seperti Albert Einstein, penemu DNA Francis Crick, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, pengarang fiksi ilmiah Isaac Asimov, HG Wells, dan Sir Arthur C Clarke, juga Salman Rushdie, Charles Dickens, Joyce Carol Oates, Gore Vidal, dan Taslima Nasrin. Selain itu deretan nama para seniman dan entertainer muncul. Sebutlah Woody Allen, Bruce Willis, George Clooney, Katherine Hepburn, Larry King, Marlon Brando, Christopher Reeve, Paul Newman, Matt Groening si pencipta karakter Simpsons, Billy Joel, dan Barry Manilow.

Namanya sendiri muncul di halaman 1026 dan menggambarkan dirinya sebagai "rouè dan sybarite", simbol Humanist Manifesto II dan Humanist Manifesto 2000, pernyataan yang diumumkan oleh gerakan humanisme sekular di AS.

Selain nama dan keterangan atas nama tersebut, isi buku ini dicampur pula dengan entri untuk istilah-istilah filsafat yang berhubungan dengan freethinking, seperti agnostisme, antropomorfisme, kausalitas, budaya etik, positivisme logis, naturalisme, humanisme sekular, transendetalisme, dan unitarianisme. Dimasukkan pula entri untuk kelompok atheis dan humanis internasional sekarang, lengkap dengan alamat, situs dan emailnya.

Waren A Smith sebenarnya adalah pensiunan guru dan pengusaha bisnis rekaman yang tinggal di Greenwich Village, New York, AS. Dia adalah kolumnis dan seorang yang skeptis terhadap semua kepercayaan dan agama. Istrinya, Carol, juga didaftarkannya dalam bukunya itu. Waren kini aktif mengeditori jurnal humanisme sekular, Free Inquiry.

Buku Who's Who in Hell ini diterbitkan oleh Barricade Books, sebuah penerbit yang menerbitkan banyak buku, dari biografi selebriti hingga buku-buku kontroversial seperti manual pembuatan bom Anarchist Cookbook. Nampaknya, buku Smith ini akan menjadi terbitan kontroversial berikutnya.

AL PAPA IN OMAGGIO UN LIBRO CON LA LISTA DEI VIP NON CREDENTI

E' uscito "Who's Who in Hell", un libro "nero" che contiene una lunga lista di personaggi noti (il

volume conta ben 1026 pagine), stampati in rigoroso ordine alfabetico, che non credono nel

messaggio biblico. Da Issac Asimov a Katherine Hepburne, passando per Einstein, Dietrich, Picasso,

Larry King, sono in molti coloro che "bruceranno all'inferno", secondo l'autore di "Chi e' chi all'inferno".

E accanto ai nomi di antichi illustri come il sofista Protagora, o il materialista Democrito, o di filosofi

come Hume, Russel o Sartre, compaiono anche l'autore di fantascienza Arthur C.Clarke, i musicisti

come Beethoven e Brahms, gli attori come Charlie Chaplin, Christopher Reeve, George Clooney, o

Woody Allen (famosa una sua battuta nel film Harry a pezzi, "sono agnostico. Ma credo un po'

all'ateismo"). Lo ha scritto un ateo, Warren Allen Smith, che ha dedicato questo libro a tutti i non

credenti, affermando: "Siamo in ottima compagnia". Una copia omaggio e' stata spedita dall'autore al

papa.

14 Eylul 2000

"Aslðnda agnosti¤im. Ama ateizme de inanðyorum." diyordu Woody Allen, ünlü filmi "Yaramaz Harry"de. Bu sözleri Allen'ð, son yðllarðn en 'ateþli' kitabðnda baþ köþeye taþðdð. Sözünü etti¤imiz kitap, "Who's Who in Hell" (Cehennemde Kim Kimdir) baþlð¤ðnð taþðyor ve hangi ünlü simalarðn, yaptðklarð ve yapmadðklarð yüzünden cehennem ateþinde yanaca¤ðnð anlatðyor. 1026 sayfadan oluþan 'Cehennemin El Kitabð', Ðncil'e göndermeler üzerine kurulu. Pek çok farklð alanda çðkarðlan "Kim Kimdir" serilerine de¤iþik bir yaklaþðm getiren kitap, dünyanðn dört bir yanðndan tanðdðk yüzleri karþðmðza çðkartðyor - ama farklð yüzleriyle! Kimi tarihin sayfalarðndan çðkðp gelen, kimi her gün medyada boy gösteren bu ünlü þahðslar, alfabetik sðrayla dizildikleri kitapta, iþledikleri günahlarla anðlðyor. Kimi Ðncil'i okumadð¤ð, kimi uygulamadð¤ð, kimiyse inanmadð¤ð için bu sayfalara girmeye hak kazanmðþ olan ünlü þahsiyetler arasðnda Einstein dan Marlene Dietrich'e, Picasso dan Larry King'e pek çok isim var.

Kitabð yazan Warren Allen Smith, eski bir Ðngilizce ö¤retmeni. Ateist olan Smith, "Kilise'nin baþðnð a¤rðtan 15 bin ünlüyü devamlð hatðrlatmasð için" eserinin bir kopyasðnð da Papa'ya gönderdi¤ini belirtiyor. Kitabð almak isteyenler, internette Amazon.com adresine girerek 100 dolar karþðlð¤ð cehennemin müdavimlerini ö¤renebilirler.

ASIMOV'DAN HEPBURN'E

"Cehennemde Kim Kimdir", pek çok açðdan ilginç bir kitap. Üstelik pek çok ünlünün fazla bilinmeyen enteresan yönlerini gözler önüne seriyor. Örne¤in Katherine Hepburn'ün ateist oldu¤unu biliyor muydunuz? Ünlü yðldðz, bir kadðn dergisinin gerçekleþtirdi¤i röportajðnda "Ateistim, hepsi bu kadar" diyerek kestirip atðyor. Kitapta geçmiþin derinliklerinden ünlü isimler de var. Sofist Pisagor ve materyalist Demokrit, filozoflardan Hume, Russell ve Sartre, yazarlardan Isaac Asimov ile Arthur C. Clarke, müzisyenler Beethoeven ve