Anton LaVey, the cool looking cynical street philosopher, publicity hound, writer, and founder of the Church of Satan, died at the age of 67 on October 29th, 1997. His death certificate says October 31st 'cause that's a cool day for a Satanist to die on.

LaVey told a lot of stories, kept many others secret, and the facts and fiction have melded together into a tabloid story of a life. His claims of lion taming in the circus as a young man are not substantiated, but there are a few intriguing old photos of him floating around and he did have a well-behaved pet lion for years. He was also a crime scene photographer for the Los Angeles police before stumbling onto his true profession.. creating the Church of Satan! Satanism is obviously not new, but LaVey brought the symbolism and ritual to the public with photo ops, staged black masses and Satanic weddings, creating quite a stir even in the "all hell is breaking loose" late 60's.

LaVey met Susan Atkins and put her on stage as a topless vampire years before Charlie Manson fucked her and taught her those famous knife tricks.  LaVey also held black masses with Jayne Mansfield and chummed it up with Sammy Davis Jr. to unknown depths. Who else (besides the Velvet Underground) was wearing black in the Summer of Love? He even painted his house black. LaVey's followers were the original pasty complexion black wearing creepy looking crowd 30 years before today's goths.  Marylin Manson fans are so many unintentional great grandchildren to LaVey.  The "Mansonites" are an example of how the Church of Satan is such a part of today's cultural landscape that it basically lost control of its public image.  A press release from the Church of Satan is no match for 20 sensationalistic tabloid articles. 

LaVey's most famous book is The Satanic Bible.  The book is partially a great primer for how to survive and prosper in the today's world and partially cynical self-defeating bullshit.  One of LaVey's influences when he wrote the Satanic Bible was a mysterious book called "Might is Right" by "Ragnar Redbeard".  LaVey did some research and found that "Redbeard" was in reality Jack London ranting and raving under a pseudonym.  The blatant and sometimes wickedly accurate aggression in that book inspired the tone of the Satanic Bible.

Anton LaVey lived a life of strange experiences, was famous, looked cool, got laid a lot, and made money spewing his wisdom on others. We could all be so lucky.

Note : LaVey's "Satanic Bible" is very much in print and available from any decent bookstore.  "Might is Right" is available from Mike Hunt Publications or really cool bookstores.

The Church of Satan is still very much around. Click on the title a few words back to reach their homepage.