Changing the World Is the Only Fit Work for a Grown Man

by Steve Harrison

This is the story of a 'sixties adman who harnessed the big ideas of his age and set out to reinvent advertising - and then change the world. In so doing he introduced interactive, PR-generating stunts, and social media - way back in the 1960s. Then he used them to save the Grand Canyon, kick-start the Green Movement, free a Caribbean island and launch Wired magazine's 'patron saint', Marshall McLuhan. And he did it all with a flamboyance that inspired the likes of Tom Wolfe, John Steinbeck and the makers of the counterculture. His name was Howard Luck Gossage. These are his life and times.

Genres: Biography, Business

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Steve Harrison present a film on HLG at a conference six or seven years ago. I think about it all the bloody time.

This book's a must read for anyone interested in the industry. Or in how being a creative in the world of advertising doesn't mean you can't go out and save the damn world.

[Mika · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring story of a creative legend who redefined the industry of advertising and eventually shook the whole nation many times by his creative ideas.

[Krišjānis Zviedrāns · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can either be sad about that he isn't well known or be glad that despite being mostly lonely in his ahead of time thought he achieved so much and made it to this day.

[Meda · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in the history of advertising, this book is definitely worth a try. It was both interesting and informative. Highly recommend!

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and engaging read, written by one of the best copywriters in history. Do not miss this!

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Gossage seems pretty awesome. I stumbled across him while reading about Marshall Mcluhan, and was intrigued because I used to work in advertising and i hadn't heard of him. I'm also fascinated in environmental issues, and so my interest was doubly piqued when I realized he played such a fundamental early role in the American environmental movement. Wow this sounds like a Yelp review. Why am I writing it in the first person.

Anyhoo, the book is thoroughly researched. In reading it, I learned about Gossage's autobiography, or rather his book of lectures. Perhaps it'd be better to start with that, but this is a quick read, a good overview of an interesting man, living in an interesting city, San Francisco, in interesting times, and interesting people - he was a colleague of Ogilvy and Bernbach, along with a lot of other super fascinating non-ad people. Berkeley radicals. Cyberneticists. Rock stars.

[Barbara Maliukaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about the only sane man in the "Mad Men" era – Howard Gossage. Also known as "The Socrates of San Francisco". Howard was an incredibly inspiring, easily bored and insanely talented advertising innovator and iconoclast. His ideas and thinking were decades ahead of its time, so he’s done everything differently and did it well. This book is worth shelf, but might be a bit more inspiring for people in communications.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only all advertising related books were this well written, then I would definitely be inclined to read more of them.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting subject matter - role of adman in creating (or rather, pushing to prominence) the green movement particularly fascinating. A little bit ad-geeky though, and not fabulously written.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the phrases within are extremely helpful. A good book to read for those interested.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 3 out of 5]

please see my review at http://wp.me/P23AlC-5f