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Thomas Lyttle
Photographer unknown, 2008
Thomas Lyttle
Photographer unknown
Erowid Character Vaults
Thomas Lyttle
Summary
Thomas Lyttle was the publisher and editor of Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, a periodical that provided information to the counterculture at a time when mainstream publishing on the topic of illicit psychoactive drugs had slowed to a crawl. The first issue came out in the autumn of 1985, and the sixth and final issue appeared in 1993. PM&E evolved out of the newsletter the Psychozoic Press--An Informational Advisory and Communications Exchange Paper on Psychedelics, which first appeared in 1982. Editor Elvin D. Smith produced ten issues of the Psychozoic Press, and he continued to provide editorial input for PM&E until his death in 1988. Following the conclusion of Lyttle's run as an editor and publisher, he created a "best of" compilation using selections from PM&E, titled Psychedelics: A Collection of the Most Exciting New Material on Psychedelic Drugs. Published by Barricade Books Inc. in 1994, Psychedelics saw wider distribution than PM&E had seen. The final book Lyttle edited was Psychedelics Reimagined, which contained writings by folks like Timothy Leary, Hakim Bey, Otto Snow, Chris Bennett, John W. Allen, Jochen Gartz, and others.

Lyttle was an early collector and producer of LSD blotter art. He is the person who first conceived of asking psychedelic celebrities like Albert Hofmann and Timothy Leary to autograph undipped sheets of blotter. This action inspired increased interest of blotter as an art form. Signed blotter became highly collectible, with rare sheets selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Before his death, Lyttle donated some of his more valuable pieces of blotter art to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and the sale of autographed blotter raised around $20,000 for MAPS.
Author of (Articles)
  • "A Close Encounter with Belladonna, Black Sheep of the Psychedelic World", Psychozoic Press 6: 33-43 (1983).
  • "Means to an End: LSD vs. Insanity--A Personal Account", Psychozoic Press 7: 15-35 (1984).
  • "Some Notes on Brain Chemistry, Information Processing and the Psychedelic Experience", Psychozoic Press 8: 43-58 (1984).
  • "The Hidden Laws of Psychedelics, Sorcery & Humour or Something's Gonna Give", Psychozoic Press 9: 7-40 (1984).
  • "De Arte Alchemistica De Hac Re Altera Intelligenda", Psychozoic Press 10: 9-12 (1985).
  • "Drugs, Music and Ideology: A Social Pharmacological Interpretation of of The Acid House Movement" with Michael Montagne, International Journal of the Addictions 27(10): 1159-1177 (1992).
  • "Rumors, Myths and Urban Legends Surrounding the 'Death' of Jim Morrison", Secret and Suppressed: Banned Ideas and Hidden History, edited by Jim Keith, 109-119 (1993).
  • "Bufo toads and bufotenine: fact and fiction surrounding an alleged psychedelic" with David Goldstein and Jochen Gartz, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 28(3): 267-90 (1996).
  • "Misuse and legend in the 'toad licking' phenomenon", International Journal of the Addictions 28: 521-538 (1993). (This article was republished in The American Drug Scene: An Anthology edited by James A. Inciardi and Karen McElrath, 1998.)
  • "Toad-Licking Blues", You Are Being Lied To: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths edited by Russ Kick, 241-244 (2001).
  • "Salvia: Smoke of Many Visions", Heads 3(6): 32-34 (December 2001).
  • "Ibogaine: Proceedings of the First International Conference by Kenneth R. Alper and Staley D. Glick (Eds.)", book review, The Entheogen Review 11(1): 37-38. (Spring 2002).
  • "LSD Blotter Art", MAPS Bulletin 14(1): 35-37 (2004).
  • Editor of (Books/Journals)
  • Psychedelic Monograph's (sic) and Essays, Volume One (Autumn 1985).
  • Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, Volume Two (Summer 1987).
  • Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, Volume Three (Spring 1988).
  • Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, Volume Four (1989/1990).
  • Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, Volume Five (1990/1991).
  • Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, Volume Six (1993).
  • Psychedelics: A Collection of the Most Exciting New Material on Psychedelic Drugs (1994).
  • Psychedelics Reimagined (1999).
  • Interviews of
  • "Thomas Lyttle Interview" by Jim DeKorne, The Entheogen Review 3(1): 7 (Spring 1994).
  • "Burning Shiva: Thomas Lyttle, Psychedelic Man" interviewed by Chris Bennett, Pot-TV (2003).
  • Interviews by
  • "Dan Merkur Speaks...", The Entheogen Review 9(3): 122-127 (2000).
  • "The High Times Interview: Alex Grey - Visions of Alex", High Times (June 2002).
  • "Jay C. Fikes Speaks...", The Entheogen Review 11(3): 81-93 (Autumn 2002).