Jann Wenner

I spoke with Jann Wenner about Ramparts magazine last week. Jann wrote for the spinoff newspaper, The Sunday Ramparts, before starting Rolling Stone with his mentor, Ralph Gleason, in 1967. Gleason was the Chronicle's jazz critic and a contributing editor at Ramparts before quitting in a fury. The problem was Warren Hinckle's depiction of San Francisco's hippies in the magazine's first major article on the subject.

In our conversation, I learned a lot more about the relationship between Ramparts and Rolling Stone, which Jann described as one of "overlapping trajectories." I already knew that Jann borrowed his design from Ramparts and pasted up the first issue of Rolling Stone (see photo) in a spare room at the magazine's office at 301 Broadway. But I also learned that he met his wife, Jane Schindelheim, at Ramparts. And that Bob Scheer tried to get him to fetch coffee. And lots of other stuff that will be in the book.