Steven Wells: In Memoriam



He was a mentor, a storyteller, a fire-breather. He was more passionate than anyone we’ll likely come across again. 
Of course, you know this already. Because if you read his stuff, you know the man. Everything in his writing is everything he was in real flesh-and-blood life.

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Posted Jun. 30, 2009 | Comments: 10

Billy Bragg Remembers Steven Wells

Swells could be hurtful in what he wrote, but his contrarian stance was never mere posturing. It was underpinned with an unswerving belief that things could be better—culturally, politically and globally.

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Posted Jun. 30, 2009 | Comments: 1

“You write to make an impact.”


Swells was funny and opinionated and smart enough to realize his limitations and work within them. He did it for himself. He was from the fanzine world. He was a tastemaker critic, for sure. People took notice of his opinions, and acted upon them. He challenged people’s opinions, led them, changed them—most of this by default, by sheer force of his personality and peerless ability to entertain. If something was wrong, it was wrong. Didn’t matter what anyone else thought. Of course, Swells might then change his mind the next day. 


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Posted Jun. 30, 2009 | Comments: 0

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