Kurt Saxon

The Poor Man s James Bond was a newsletter produced by Kurt Saxon, a prolific writ
er on survivalism and improvised weapons. Saxon s real name was Donald Eugene Sisc
o. In the 1960s, he flirted with a host of extremist groups and cults. Saxon cla
imed to have belonged at various times to the American Nazi Party, the John Birc
h Society, Scientology and the Church of Satan. In testimony to the U.S. Congres
s in 1970, he revealed he had been proofreader at The Los Angeles Herald-Examine
r newspaper.
Saxon started his career with the books Militants Formulary and Explosives Like G
randdad Used To Make, both how-to guides on all sorts of hazardous and explosive
materials. He also claimed he blew the fingers off his left hand while experime
nting with explosives. He lived in Eureka, California but later moved to Arkansa
s, where he continued to publish his newsletters. His books were handled by smal
l publishing houses that also put out military manuals, survivalist books and ot
her niche interests.
Saxon trolled law enforcement agencies and city attorneys nationwide by sending
them copies of his newsletter The Survivor. Saxon claimed he was only providing
them with intelligence, but many took offense at the articles on vigilante justice
and what Saxon perceived as weak law enforcement. He published their indignant
replies. Remove my name from your mailing list, demanded Lt. Gordon A. Bowers of B
urbank, California. I consider your publication a nuisance and hazard.
Saxon claimed to have been invited to appear on David Letterman. As Saxon tells
it, he volunteered to demonstrate recipes from his book Granddad s Wonderful Book
of Chemistry, including the spontaneous combustion of mercury, potassium and sod
ium, and his burning ice cube trick. Unfortunately, during rehearsals one of his t
ricks ended with a boom and a producer yelling, Am I bleeding? I can t hear. Can I
get this stuff off my pants? Letterman allegedly cancelled Saxon s appearance.
The Poor Man s James Bond occasionally veered into politics or Saxon s ideology, and
Saxon made clear his disdain for hippies, addicts, the homeless, anti-establish
mentarians and those on the Left. Saxon s comments on race hinted at a deeper ideo
logy: he referred to Russians as a downbred people and stated that, unlike his civ
ilized Cherokee ancestors, Native American tribes such as the Apache were savage
Indians who were primitive and useless.
After the turbulence of the 60s, Saxon seems to have turned away from far-right p
olitics to concentrate on survivalism, a term he claims to have coined. Survivali
sts, according to him, were people who wanted to get away from a world of violent
crime, urban riots, militant rightists and leftists and government bent on gun co
nfiscation. Survivalists would need the means to defend themselves. Through The
Poor Man s James Bond, Saxon would teach them.