BERN PORTER (1911–2004), studied physics at Colby and Brown, worked on the Manhattan Project, but embraced pacifism after the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima. He published Henry Miller and ran a gallery in Northern California before returning to his native Maine, where he ran for governor (unsuccessfully), started a think tank for drop-outs, and created his classic series of “Founds,” collected in more than a dozen books. JOEL A. LIPMAN, artist and writer, is a professor at the University of Toledo. MARK MELNICOVE worked with Porter from 1979–1996 on performance and publication projects. He lives in Falmouth, Maine.

“Here is the hidden literature of the 20th century. Hidden in plain sight.”—David Byrne

BERN PORTER (1911–2004), studied physics at Colby and Brown, worked on the Manhattan Project, but embraced pacifism after the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima. He published Henry Miller and ran a gallery in Northern California before returning to his native Maine, where he ran for governor (unsuccessfully), started a think tank for drop-outs, and created his classic series of “Founds,” collected in more than a dozen books. JOEL A. LIPMAN, artist and writer, is a professor at the University of Toledo. MARK MELNICOVE worked with Porter from 1979–1996 on performance and publication projects. He lives in Falmouth, Maine.

“Here is the hidden literature of the 20th century. Hidden in plain sight.”—David Byrne

BERN PORTER (1911–2004), studied physics at Colby and Brown, worked on the Manhattan Project, but embraced pacifism after the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima. He published Henry Miller and ran a gallery in Northern California before returning to his native Maine, where he ran for governor (unsuccessfully), started a think tank for drop-outs, and created his classic series of “Founds,” collected in more than a dozen books. JOEL A. LIPMAN, artist and writer, is a professor at the University of Toledo. MARK MELNICOVE worked with Porter from 1979–1996 on performance and publication projects. He lives in Falmouth, Maine.

“Here is the hidden literature of the 20th century. Hidden in plain sight.”—David Byrne