Stewart Brand, founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, studied design and photography at San Francisco Art Institute College in the early sixties and joined Ken Kesey's band of Merry Pranksters in 1964. Four years later, with numerous miles logged on the famous bus Furthur, Brand started publishing the Whole Earth Catalog, which became the bible for those who had decided to drop out of society to seek their spiritual fortune in the wilds of nature. The 'Economist' described Brand's magazine as a "philosophical tract that endeavors to make shopping via the catalogue a spiritual experience…it has become the bible of the commune and the creator of cults. Earth is the theme throughout." Although initially very successful, as interest waned in living in the wilds, the magazine lost market share and folded in 1971. Shown is an issue from late 1969.