Jim Goad

James Thaddeus Goad (1960 or 1961) is an American author and publisher. Goad co-authored and published the magazine Answer Me! and The Redneck Manifesto.

Early life and education

James Thaddeus Goad was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania in 1960 or 1961. He grew up in Philadelphia, describing himself as a loner, misanthrope and weirdo. He attended a Catholic school run by nuns. He experienced violent treatment from his parents and bullies at his school, eventually learning to fight back.

Goad moved to New York City to study acting and was accepted to study at New York University under Stella Adler. Goad graduated in 1985 with a B.A. in Journalism from Temple University while living in New Jersey. In the early 1980s, Goad met Debbie Rosalie, who was eight years older, in New York. They relocated to Los Angeles and were married in 1987.

Career

1980s–90s

Goad worked at the Los Angeles Reader, covering local news, but wished to cover more fringe subjects, so the couple began publishing their own magazine, Answer Me! In 1994, Goad featured on Adam Parfrey's 1994 cop-themed album, Deep Inside a Cop's Mind.

Around 1994, the couple moved to Portland, Oregon and Goad devoted his time to writing. In May 1997, Goad began dating then-stripper Anne "Skye" Ryan about the time that Debbie was diagnosed with the ovarian cancer that later killed her. Goad described Ryan as "Sweet Dracula girl" and as being "...fifteen years younger than me and a thousand times more fucked-up." In November 1997, Debbie was granted a restraining order against Goad, after stating that he had hit, kicked, and spit on her and threatened to kill her. They divorced in December 1997.

In May 1998, Goad and Ryan had a fight in Goad's car outside of Portland. Goad left Ryan by the side of the road and fled to Washington state. When police met Ryan in a hospital emergency room, she had a blackened eye that was swollen shut, "bite marks on her hand and she was bleeding in several places." Goad was charged with assault and kidnapping, facing a potential 25 years in prison. After his arrest, Goad's ex-wife Debbie filed a motion to withdraw her restraining order, stating that Goad "has seeked counseling for three months and we are now friends after our legal divorce…. If I have a relapse from my ovarian cancer, [Jim] will take care of me and help me out."

Goad pleaded guilty to reduced charges and served 2+1⁄2 years, split between jail and prison. He was released in the fall of 2000. When asked if he had any remorse or guilt about beating Ryan, Goad said, "Absolutely not. I enjoyed it."

While Goad was in prison, author Jim Hogshire started a "Free Jim Goad" website, claiming that Goad told him he was innocent. After his release, Goad disputed the concept of the website, calling Hogshire a "nutty Muslim junkie." He stated that while he had said Ryan was lying, he never claimed innocence, but was not able to speak freely while incarcerated.

2000s

Upon his release from prison in 2000, Goad returned to Portland and was on parole for a time. He wrote for Exotic, a free guide to the sex industry of the Northwestern United States and worked as a country music DJ. In 2008 Goad became a father.

Works

Writing style and beliefs

As a writer, Jim Goad has been called the "poster boy for the transgressive school of writing." Chuck Palahniuk describes Goad's writing style as being "brutally honest without worrying about being correct."

Goad's work examines American culture, often popular and political culture. His early work reads anti-politically correct and as shock value, while his later work, like the Redneck Manifesto, and journalism contributions have marked Goad as a political and societal commentator. In his political commentary he has described conservatives and liberals in the United States as "two asscheeks surrounding the same hairy bunghole," and that politicians know how to take advantage of lower- and middle-class people because of a human's innate tribalism. He has stated his support for Donald Trump.

ANSWER Me!

From 1991 to 1994, Goad self-published four yearly issues of the zine ANSWER Me!, with then-wife Debbie Goad. It featured illustrations by Nick Bougas. With a circulation of 13,000 the magazine sought to upset politically correct thinkers by covering subjects about race and feminism. The publication was banned and seized by customs officials in several countries, and the final Rape Issue was rejected by some bookstore owners. The zine, called "massively influential" by Bizarre, would also be credited as an inspiration by Francisco Martin Duran, who took 29 shots at the White House, influencing the suicides of three British neo-Nazis, and a possible influence on Kurt Cobain's suicide.

The Redneck Manifesto

In 1994, Goad signed a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster for $100,000. The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America's Scapegoats was published in 1997. The book explores the idea of poor whites celebrating their heritage similar to poor African Americans, and that discrimination in the United States is focused around social class, not race. His thesis is that the rich elite blind the poor, and cause them to fight one another, instead of working together for their mutual benefit.