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Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:02 pm

Can anyone tell me about John Muir? Who was he? Was he a mechanic, writer or just a enthusiest? Where did he live? Any info on the history of him or his Idiot's Guide would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
I have been fascinated with his Idiot's Guide for for a very long time. I used his book to rebuild my first engine on my '67 bus about 16 years ago. I loved the info., how it was written, the photos of Muir working on his VW's and the 'Dr. Suess like' drawings. Anybody know anything about the artist??? I have never seen any of the VW mags do a story and bio on him. I wonder why??? He was a great contributor to the VW Industry.
THANKS

Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:44 pm

Quote: Original artist adds drawings for 19th edition of famous book
BY EMILY VAN CLEVE
For The Journal

SANTA Fe —Even though it’s been close to 30 years since Volkswagen discontinued its air-cooled engine, the older VWs are still a hot item in the marketplace.

And with them, the famous John Muir repair manual “How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step By Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot,” is also in demand.

Avalon Travel Publishing, which bought out John Muir Publications in January 2000, is coming out with the 19th edition in early October The new edition has new sections by the book’s original illustrator Peter Aschwanden of Santa Fe.

Aschwanden, a painter who has called New Mexico home since 1963, found celebrity in the Volkswagen world when he agreed to do all the illustrations for Muir’s original edition.

“This is back-list best seller,” says Avalon's editorial manager, Ellen Cavalli. “It’s a matter of course for the company to update this book every few years. The last edition was the 30th anniversary special.”

Aschwanden w was living in El Rito when he met the 50-year-old Muir in 1968. Aschwanden attended Muir’s wedding near Taos along with many other members of the area’s large hippie population. A year later, Muir showed up at Aschwanden’s cabin, talked about his plans for the Volkswagen book and asked him to create front and back illustrations.

I’d done illustrations in high school, but I was a painter when John met me,” Aschwanden said. “I was busy building a pen for my goats and didn’t really want to work on the project, but John promised me it would take only two weeks.”

UPDATING A CLASSIC: Peter Aschwanden of Santa Fe Illustrated the first edition of the book on Volkswagen repair.

The goats hung out with Aschwanden on the porch for three weeks while he worked all day and into the night by the light of a kerosene lamp. Muir tried to create the book’s inside illustrations himself, but soon turned to Aschwanden for help with the 80 illustrations that later filled the book.

“John and I ended up having a long collaboration together,” said Aschwanden. “I illustrated other John Muir books, but the Volkswagen book has had the longest life.”

All of Muir’s original text is contained in the 19th edition,. which covers Volkswagens made from the late 1950s to the early 1970s; it will be available in all major book stores, some independent book stores and on the internet. Avalon expects to continue selling 15,000 to 20,000 copies of the $25 book annually.

Since the first edition came out in 1969, nearly 2 million copies have sold. The manual has been translated into Spanish and German.

Muir created the book for the inept home mechanic. He asked a mechanically challenged friend to test one of the first chapters. “When the man came to the part that said ‘use a 10 millimeter wrench,’ and the man didn’t know what a wrench was John asked me to create a chapter with drawings of every tool a person would need to work with,” Aschwanden said.

The latest edition has all the original Illustrations and then some.

There is also a four-page story written by Aschwanden and translated into German by his mother. “A Late Night Adventure with the Dread Auto-Trottel” is set up like a cartoon with German. captions.

At the bottom of each page, in tiny print, are the English translations.

I figure that I’ll wear people down by creating a long German cartoon where they have to keep looking at the bottom of the page for the translations,” he explains.

“If they can get through that cartoon, they can easily get through the troubleshooting section that follows it.”

DRAWING DIRECTIONS: The 19th edition of the guide to VW repair contains Ashwanden’s original Illustrations and then some.

“If they can get through the cartoon, they can easily get through the troubleshooting section that follows it.”

PETER ASCHWANDEN, ILLUSTRATOR

That section is filled with drawings of cute characters, carburetors, overheating VW bugs, a taco, a donkey and the infamous tow truck.

Even though Aschwanden has’ been updating the illustrations for 30 years, he doesn’t think he could “ever pass for a skilled VW mechanic. In fact. he has never been interested in owning a Volkswagen.

“I’m more into Fords than VW’s,” he said.

Aschwanden may not be a Volkswagen enthusiast, but plenty of other people are, said Cavalli.

“I have a 1964 squareback, and my husband has a 1958 truck,” she said. “There are loads of VW car shows all around the country, magazines devoted to the old air- cooled VW engine and e-mail groups. Teenagers are looking to buy older VWs. They’re cheap and easy to fix. This manual is part of the mystique. It’s the bible of VWs.”

Albuquerque Journal, Business Outlook, Monday Septenmber 17, 2001

Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:03 am

the latest edition actually has a short bio on muir in it.

Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:13 pm

What ever happened to that documentary/movie his son was making about him??

Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:38 pm

Some sparse info here:
http://www.originalidiot.com/home.htm
A few pics and videos there too.

Don't know if that's his son, Fish. :?:

Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:00 pm

Scott H wrote: Some sparse info here:
http://www.originalidiot.com/home.htm
A few pics and videos there too.

Don't know if that's his son, Fish. :?:
You're right, not his son. That site had been pretty quite for long time.

Wed Dec 15, 2004 4:46 pm

I have never been a big fan of that book :?

Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:00 pm

http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/

the other one wrote a book that deals with beginner vw "repair".

Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:34 pm

john muir also wrote a book called "the velvet monkeywrench". instead of telling you how to fix your dub, he talked about how to fix the gov't system and start a new republic called the Republic of North America. its a great book and lays out plans to build a society to fit everybody's needs. too bad it didnt take off like he had planned. its illustrated by aschwanden also.

Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:55 pm

I like the book a lot. I'm not saying all the info is 100% accurate or that you can go rebuild and engine by reading it, but it's a good resource. It encompasses a lot of the 'VW mindframe'. Kind of a laid back approach to a shop manual.

The illustrations are great and the basic language and baby steps in the book are a good introduction into working on a dub.

Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:39 pm

I traded my ten speed bike for a '67 Mexico production Beetle to a best friend of John Muir, back in 1986. I still have the Beetle with it's '76-'77 Guanajuato license plate and it's been just over 18 years since I met the man who sold it to me. The man's name is William A. Foley junior. Bill lived in a small house down in San Miguel De Allende' in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico at the same time that Muir lived there on a farm where much of the work took place in putting the first edition of the idiot's manual together.

John Muir was the grandson of conservationist: John Muir of the 19th Century. Foley and Muir the third were great friends and they partied and drank together often. If I recall correctly, Bill told me that Muir passed away in '73 or '74 and Bill moved to Texas a few years later. Seeing this thread prompted me to open the phone book to see if he still lives in this area and to my surprise, I found his phone number. I called Mr. Foley 3 nights ago and we had an awesome conversation and he was very surpised that I still had his little VW. With the car, Bill gave me a flimsy roof rack that Muir had given him for the Beetle when they were living in Mexico during the '60's.

Mr. Foley invited me to his home to share stories about Muir and his experiences with him. Bill Foley is a pretty amazing man. He is an incredible artist and has painted murals for various people and institutions all over the globe and has lived in many places. He fought on the front lines in General Patton's army during World War II and was one of only a small few who ever drew pictures of combat, while in combat and his drawings are incredible. He just published a book, titled: "VISIONS FROM A FOXHOLE", published by Randomhouse and it can be found or ordered through any major bookstore. Much of his combat art is in the book and the detail in his drawings will impress you.

While talking with him over the phone, he asked me to read his book, first, before I come over for a visit. I just purchased it last night at Borders and will begin reading it this weekend while I'm on the road. When I go to visit him, I will ask him if it's alright for me to make an audio recording of his stories about John Muir and what kind of man Muir was and the things that they did. I may ask him if he might be willing to spend a little time to come into this forum and thread and tell some stories, directly. I do know that they both used the car that Bill gave me for various illegal activity, however I don't feel at liberty to discuss such information in this public forum. As soon as I read Bill's book and visit with him, I will come back to this thread and tell you what he tells me. I'm looking forward to it and thanks for starting this thread. It has reopened a friendship with a person that I thought I had lost touch with forever.

Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:01 am

An article on John Muir appeared in 2002 in Inventions and Technology. Information from this article
Muir was born 1918 died 1977. Had a n engineering degree from Berkeley. Worked at various times as a contractor for the Air Force and NASA on missile launch platforms. Eventually ended up in Taos New Mexico where I believe his widow (wife#3) still lives. The article details how the idea for the book began. Peter Aschwaden was the illustrator.
The first edition was self published.

Thu Dec 16, 2004 11:35 am

John Muir is my hero. You can actually feel his love radiate out when you read that book/fix your ride. It's like the wise ol man looking over your shoulder, giving encoragement, makin it simple for the idiots. I've learned a lot with that book. It's not %100 but it can get you out of many tight jams for minimal cash. I use it along with Bentley, a failsafe combo.
I read Velvet Monkeywrench, it's WEIRD. The illustrations are beautiful, but it's really out there, and pretty long winded too. He's trying to offer an alternative cilvilization, but geez what he proposes is insane, like basically scrapping what we have, and start from square 1 with his odd suggestions. And he mapped out EVERYTHING. Very hard to actualize in real life.

Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:57 pm

hambone wrote: I read Velvet Monkeywrench, it's WEIRD. The illustrations are beautiful, but it's really out there, and pretty long winded too. He's trying to offer an alternative cilvilization, but geez what he proposes is insane, like basically scrapping what we have, and start from square 1 with his odd suggestions.

really out there and insane??? why? i thought it was the most logical and down to earth book i ever read.

Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:23 am

53 0val wrote: I have never been a big fan of that book :?
The title of the book clearly explains who it's for. Muir recommends the shop manual for futher information, realizing his book is meant for beginners.
If you're broke, inexperienced (remember back then?) and need to fix a bug in a driveway at night to get to work the next day, Muir is a godsend.

Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:50 pm

I guess it just seemed completely impractical. For such a radical transformation to take place, you'd have to get society behind you. Based on the state of the US and world affairs, we all can't even agree on basic human rights. Like I said, I adore John Muir, but the Monkeywrench book just seemed like science fiction. I was really looking forward to reading it too. The artwork is fabulous tho.
Just my 10 centavos.

Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:06 pm

il bet that that book has got me out of a broken down on the side of the road situation at least 5 times. i like the book alot.

Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:58 pm

I bought a copy of that with my 1st Vw -a '59 Singlecab in 1979, have not used it in years, but still have it -just in case, and yes it helped many times crossing the U.S. 5 times in the '80's... nothing like changing a main seel at a campground in the middle of the night.......

Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:22 am

Weatherly- thank you for that great insight to Mr. Muir and his friends!

A good friend and neighbor gave me my first "Idiot's Guide" in 1974 when he followed my first attempts at fixing my first VW. I was 15 at the time but with the help of the book and my dad (he was good with VWs) I had my first roadworthy VW at age 16. I still consult the book once in a while when I have some oddball engine problem, especially when I tried to diagnose a non-running stock fuel injection on my Type 3 a few years ago. And I have an extra copy that I take along on long VW trips.

Most definitely a milestone in automotive journalism and an epitome of DIY work!

Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:57 am

This thread inspired me to snag a copy of Velvet Monkeywrench on ebay for $2.

I have high hopes it will make entertaining reading over the Holidays, but I'm not holding my breath.