View source for John Perry Barlow

{{Short description|American poet, essayist, and cattle rancher (1947–2018)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = John Perry Barlow
| image = John Perry Barlow 2012.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Barlow in August 2012
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1947|10|3}}
| birth_place = near [[Cora, Wyoming]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2018|02|7|1947|10|3}}
| death_place = [[San Francisco]], California, U.S.
| occupation = {{Flatlist|
* [[Lyricist]]
* [[essayist]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Wesleyan University]]
| period = 1971–95 (lyrics)<br>1990–2018 (essays)
| genre =
| subject = [[Internet]] (essays)
}}

'''John Perry Barlow''' (October 3, 1947{{spaced ndash}}February 7, 2018) was an American [[poet]], [[essayist]], [[cattle]] [[ranch]]er, and [[technolibertarianism|cyberlibertarian]]{{Sfn | Goldsmith | Wu | 2006 | p = 17}} [[political activist]] who had been associated with both the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] parties. He was also a [[lyricist]] for the [[Grateful Dead]], a founding member of the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] and the [[Freedom of the Press Foundation]], and an early [[fellow]] at [[Harvard University]]'s [[Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society]].<ref name="BerkmanFellow"/>

==Early life and education==
Barlow was born in [[Sublette County, Wyoming]] near the town of [[Cora, Wyoming|Cora]],{{Sfn | The Internet: Biographies | p = 8}} the only child of Norman Walker Barlow,{{Sfn | Jones | 2002 | p = 23}} a Republican state legislator, and his wife, Miriam Adeline Barlow ({{nee}} Jenkins, later Bailey), who married in 1929.<ref name="DN">{{cite news|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/707109/Obituary-Miriam-Jenkins-Barlow-Bailey.amp|title=Obituary: Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey|date=July 12, 1999|newspaper=Deseret News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209003027/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/707109/Obituary-Miriam-Jenkins-Barlow-Bailey.amp|archive-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref>

Barlow's paternal ancestors were [[Mormon]] pioneers.<ref name="DN"/> He grew up on Bar Cross Ranch in [[Cora, Wyoming]], a {{Convert|22000|acre||adj=on}} property his great-uncle founded in 1907, and attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse. Raised as a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was prohibited from watching television until the sixth grade, when his parents allowed him to "absorb [[televangelists]]".<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tMVBQAAQBAJ&q=barlow|title=Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America|first=Jesse|last=Jarnow|date=March 29, 2016|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=9780306822568|via=Google Books|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=June 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609032837/https://books.google.com/books?id=0tMVBQAAQBAJ&q=barlow#v=snippet&q=barlow&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tipjarmag.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.tipjarmag.com/2016/04/keeping-up-with-john-perry-barlow|title=Keeping Up with John Perry Barlow – TipJar|date=April 14, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417070423/http://www.tipjarmag.com/2016/04/keeping-up-with-john-perry-barlow/|archive-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref>

Although Barlow's academic record was erratic throughout his secondary education, he "had his pick of top eastern universities... simply because he was from Wyoming, where few applications originated".<ref name="whowhatwhy.org">{{cite web|url=https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/02/13/john-perry-barlows-last-words|title=John Perry Barlow's Last Words – WhoWhatWhy|date=February 13, 2018|website=whowhatwhy.org|access-date=April 30, 2018|archive-date=April 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430114409/https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/02/13/john-perry-barlows-last-words/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1969, he graduated from [[Wesleyan University]]'s College of Letters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grateful Dead Lyricist, Internet Rights Advocate John Perry Barlow '69 Dies |url=https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2018/02/09/grateful-dead-lyricist-internet-rights-advocate-john-perry-barlow-69-dies/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |language=en-US |archive-date=December 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224144819/http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2018/02/09/grateful-dead-lyricist-internet-rights-advocate-john-perry-barlow-69-dies/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He served as Wesleyan's student body president until the administration "tossed him into a [[Sanatorium|sanitarium]]" following a drug-induced attempted [[suicide attack]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/> After two weeks of rehabilitation, he returned to his studies.<ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/> In his senior year, he became a part-time resident of [[New York City]]'s [[East Village (Manhattan)|East Village]] and immersed himself in [[Andy Warhol]]'s [[The Factory|Factory]] demimonde, cultivating a friendship with [[Rene Ricard]] and developing a brief addiction to [[heroin]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrmWDwAAQBAJ&q=ricard|title=Mother American Night: My Life in Crazy Times|first1=John Perry|last1=Barlow|first2=Robert|last2=Greenfield|date=May 28, 2019|publisher=Crown Archetype|isbn=9781524760199|via=Google Books|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=June 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609032837/https://books.google.com/books?id=nrmWDwAAQBAJ&q=ricard#v=snippet&q=ricard&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

As he neared graduation, Barlow was admitted to [[Harvard Law School]] and was contracted to write a novel by [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] at the behest of his mentor, the autodidactic [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novelist and historian [[Paul Horgan]].<ref name="salon.com">McEnteer, James (June 2, 2018). [https://www.salon.com/2018/06/02/1969-my-long-strange-winter-trip-with-john-perry-barlow-a-legend-in-the-making/ My long strange winter trip with John Perry Barlow, a legend in the making] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605134058/https://www.salon.com/2018/06/02/1969-my-long-strange-winter-trip-with-john-perry-barlow-a-legend-in-the-making/ |date=June 5, 2018 }}. ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]''. Accessed December 6, 2022.</ref> Initially supported by a $5,000 or $1,000<ref name="salon.com"/> advance from the publisher,<ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/> he decided to eschew these options in favor of spending the next two years traveling around the world, including a nine-month sojourn in [[India]], a riotous winter in a summer cottage on [[Long Island Sound]] in Connecticut,<ref name="salon.com"/> and a screenwriting foray in [[Los Angeles]]. Barlow eventually finished the novel, but it was rejected by several publishers (including Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and remains unpublished.<ref name="tipjarmag.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20102268,00.html|title=John Perry Barlow|website=People.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330072339/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20102268,00.html|archive-date=March 30, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> During this period, he also "lived beside [[Verdi Square|Needle Park]] on New York's [[Upper West Side]] and dealt [[cocaine]] in [[East Harlem|Spanish Harlem]]".<ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/>

==Career==
===Grateful Dead===
At age 15, Barlow became a student at the [[Fountain Valley School]] in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]]. There he met [[Bob Weir]], who later co-founded the [[Grateful Dead]]. Weir and Barlow maintained a close friendship through the years.

As a frequent visitor during college to [[Timothy Leary]]'s facility in [[Millbrook, New York]], Barlow was introduced to [[LSD]]; he later claimed to have consumed the substance over 1,000 times.<ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/> These transformative experiences led him to distance himself from Mormonism. He went on to facilitate the first meeting between the Grateful Dead and the Leary organization (who recognized each other as kindred souls in spite of their differing philosophical approaches) in June 1967.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=of4J2dbKvMoC&q=john+barlow+leary&pg=PA642|title=Timothy Leary: A Biography|first=Robert|last=Greenfield|date=February 7, 2018|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0151005000|via=Google Books|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=June 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609032838/https://books.google.com/books?id=of4J2dbKvMoC&q=john+barlow+leary&pg=PA642#v=snippet&q=john%20barlow%20leary&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

While on his way to California to reunite with the Grateful Dead in 1971, Barlow stopped at his family's ranch, not intending to stay. His father had suffered a debilitating stroke in 1966 before dying in 1972, resulting in a $700,000 business debt. Dismayed by the situation, Barlow changed his plans and began practicing [[animal husbandry]] under the auspices of the Bar Cross Land and Livestock Company in [[Cora, Wyoming]], for almost two decades. To support the ranch, he continued to write and sell [[spec scripts]].<ref name="whowhatwhy.org"/> In the meantime, Barlow was still able to play an active role in the Grateful Dead while recruiting many unconventional part-time ranch hands from the mainstream as well as the [[counterculture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cookephoto.com/jpb.html|title=John Perry Barlow Portfolio|website=Cookephoto.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417115103/http://www.cookephoto.com/jpb.html|archive-date=April 17, 2016}}</ref> Prior to his death in 2018, [[John Byrne Cooke]] intended to produce a documentary film (provisionally titled ''The Bar Cross Ranch'') that documented this era.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Byrne Cooke|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-byrne-cooke/99/962/182|title=John Byrne Cooke|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:WikipediaBarlow20060529.png|thumb|Barlow orating at the [[European Graduate School]] of [[Leuk|Leuk, Switzerland]] in 2006]]
Barlow became interested in collaborating with Weir at a Grateful Dead show at the [[Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, New York)|Capitol Theatre]] in [[Port Chester, New York]], in February 1971. Until then, Weir had mostly worked with resident Dead lyricist [[Robert Hunter (lyricist)|Robert Hunter]]. Hunter preferred that those who sang his songs stick to his "canonical" lyrics rather than improvise additions or rearrange words. A feud erupted backstage over a couplet in "[[Sugar Magnolia]]" from the band's most recent release (most likely "She can dance a Cajun rhythm/Jump like a Willys in four-wheel drive"), culminating in a disgruntled Hunter summoning Barlow and telling him "take [Weir]—he's yours".<ref>{{Citation|last=McNally|first=Dennis|title=A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead|page=394|publisher=Broadway|year=2002}}</ref>

In late 1971, with a deal for [[Ace (Bob Weir album)|a solo album]] in hand and only two songs completed, Weir and Barlow began to write together for the first time. They co-wrote songs such as "[[Cassidy (song)|Cassidy]]", "[[Mexicali Blues (song)|Mexicali Blues]]" and "[[Black-Throated Wind]]", all three of which remained in the repertoires of the Grateful Dead and of Weir's varied solo projects.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ace-mw0000195158|title=Ace – Bob Weir|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717041823/http://www.allmusic.com/album/ace-mw0000195158|archive-date=July 17, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Barlow subsequently collaborated with Grateful Dead keyboardist [[Brent Mydland]], a partnership that culminated in four songs on 1989's ''[[Built to Last]]''. He also wrote one song ("The Devil I Know") with Mydland's successor, [[Vince Welnick]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/built-to-last-mw0000198496|title=Built to Last – Grateful Dead|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823095811/http://www.allmusic.com/album/built-to-last-mw0000198496|archive-date=August 23, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Internet activism===
[[File:Nicholas Negroponte and John Perry Barlow.jpg|thumb|Barlow with [[Nicholas Negroponte]]]]
In 1986, Barlow joined [[The WELL]], an online community then known for a strong [[Deadhead]] presence. He served on the company's board of directors for several years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/07/technology/john-perry-barlow-obit/index.html|title=Internet rights advocate John Perry Barlow dies|work=CNN|date=7 February 2018|access-date=8 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208014251/http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/07/technology/john-perry-barlow-obit/index.html|archive-date=February 8, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 1990, Barlow founded the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] (EFF) with fellow digital-rights activists [[John Gilmore (activist)|John Gilmore]] and [[Mitch Kapor]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/about/history|title=A History of Protecting Freedom Where Law and Technology Collide|website=The Electronic Frontier Foundation|date=October 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104113542/https://www.eff.org/about/history|archive-date=January 4, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

As a founder of EFF, Barlow helped publicize the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] raid on [[Steve Jackson Games]]. His involvement is documented in ''[[The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier]]'' (1992) by [[Bruce Sterling]].<ref>{{Gutenberg|bullet=none|no=101|last=Sterling|first=Bruce|year=1992|name=The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier}}</ref> EFF later sponsored the groundbreaking case ''[[Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service]]'' in support of Steve Jackson Games. Steve Jackson Games won the case in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/5801427/the-day-the-secret-service-raided-a-role-playing-game-company|title=The Day the Secret Service Raided a Role-Playing Game Company|first=Luke|last=Plunkett|date=May 13, 2011|access-date=February 7, 2018|work=[[Kotaku]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028051101/http://kotaku.com/5801427/the-day-the-secret-service-raided-a-role-playing-game-company|archive-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref>

In 1996, Barlow was invited to speak about his work in [[cyberspace]] to a middle school classroom at [[North Shore Country Day School]]. This event was highly influential upon the life of then-student [[Aaron Swartz]]: Swartz's father Robert recalls Aaron coming home that day a changed person.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaronswartzday.org/john-perry-barlow-recalls-a-12-year-old-aaron-swartz|title=John Perry Barlow Recalls A 12 year-old Aaron Swartz|website=Aaronswartzday.org|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329162813/http://www.aaronswartzday.org/john-perry-barlow-recalls-a-12-year-old-aaron-swartz/|archive-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/JPBarlow/status/574421283431043072|title=John Perry Barlow|work=Twitter|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208090408/https://twitter.com/JPBarlow/status/574421283431043072|archive-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> That year, Barlow also wrote<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/02/its-been-20-years-since-this-man-declared-cyberspace-independence/|title=It's been 20 years since John Perry Barlow declared cyberspace independence|magazine=Wired|last1=Greenberg|first1=Andy|access-date=December 25, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002215953/https://www.wired.com/2016/02/its-been-20-years-since-this-man-declared-cyberspace-independence/|url-status=live}}</ref> "[[A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace]]", a widely disseminated [[creed]] for the Internet.

In 2003, Barlow met the recently appointed Brazilian Minister of Culture [[Gilberto Gil]] at the event Tactic Media Brazil to discuss the perspectives of digital inclusion and political participation, which in the following years helped shape Brazilian governmental policy on intellectual property and digital media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://culturadigital.br/braziliandigitalculture/gilberto-gil-and-john-perry-barlow-will-meet-again-at-the-brazilian-digital-culture-forum/|title=Gilberto Gil and John Perry Barlow will meet again at the II Brazilian Digital Culture Forum|website=Culturadigital.br|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327195952/http://culturadigital.br/braziliandigitalculture/gilberto-gil-and-john-perry-barlow-will-meet-again-at-the-brazilian-digital-culture-forum/|archive-date=March 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/arts/music/11roht.html|title=Gilberto Gil Hears the Future, Some Rights Reserved|date=March 11, 2007|work=The New York Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605045115/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/arts/music/11roht.html|archive-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref> In 2004, the two began working together to expand the availability and variety of Brazilian music to remix and share online. At the same time, as one of the "[[digerati]]", Barlow was among the first users of the invitation-only social network [[Orkut]] at its inception. He decided to send all of his 100 invitations to friends in Brazil; two years later, some 11 million internet users in that country (out of 14 million total) were on the social network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jruv/why-brazil-is-actually-winning-the-internet#.dk20AqxXD|title=Why Brazil Is Actually Winning The Internet|work=BuzzFeed|date=June 29, 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017043349/https://www.buzzfeed.com/jruv/why-brazil-is-actually-winning-the-internet#.dk20AqxXD|archive-date=October 17, 2017}}</ref>

===Writing===
From 1971 to 1995, Barlow wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead, mostly through his relationship with Weir. Barlow's songs include "[[Cassidy (song)|Cassidy]]" (about [[Neal Cassady]] and Cassidy Law),<ref>{{cite web|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|title=Cassidy's Tale|date=November 3, 1994|url=http://www.litkicks.com/Topics/BarlowOnNeal.html|publisher =Literary Kicks: Beat Connections in Music|access-date =November 12, 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023062542/http://www.litkicks.com/Topics/BarlowOnNeal.html|archive-date =October 23, 2007}}</ref> "[[Terrapin Station|Estimated Prophet]]", "[[Black-Throated Wind]]", "[[In the Dark (Grateful Dead album)|Hell in a Bucket]]", "[[Mexicali Blues (song)|Mexicali Blues]]", "[[Blues for Allah|The Music Never Stopped]]" and "[[Throwing Stones]]".
[[File:John Perry Barlow JI2.jpg|left|thumb|{{center|Portrait of Barlow, 2009}}]]
Barlow wrote extensively for ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' magazine, as well as ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Nerve (website)|Nerve]]'', and ''[[Communications of the ACM]]''. In his writings, he explained the wonder of the Internet. The Internet to him was more than a computer network; he called it an "electronic frontier".{{Sfn|Goldsmith|Wu|2006|p=17}} "He frequently wrote in language that echoed [[Henry Morton Stanley]]'s African diary. 'Imagine discovering a continent so vast that it may have no end to its dimensions. Imagine a new world with more resources than all our future greed might exhaust, more opportunities than there will ever be entrepreneurs enough to exploit, and a peculiar kind of real estate that expands with development. Imagine a place where trespassers leave no footprints, where goods can be stolen infinite number of times and yet remain in the possession of their original owners, where business you never heard of can own the history of your personal affairs.'"{{Sfn|Goldsmith|Wu|2006|pp=17–18}}

Barlow's writings include "[[A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace]]", written in response to the enactment of the [[Communications Decency Act]] in 1996. The EFF saw the law as a threat to the independence and sovereignty of cyberspace. He argued that the cyberspace legal order would reflect the ethical deliberation of the community instead of the coercive power that characterized real-space governance.{{Sfn|Goldsmith|Wu|2006|p=20}} Since online "identities have no bodies", they found it inappropriate to obtain order in the cyberspace by physical coercion.<ref name="declaration">{{cite web|url=http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/Internet_censorship_bills/barlow_0296.declaration|title=A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace|access-date=February 9, 2007|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|author-link=John Perry Barlow|date=February 8, 1996|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028001921/http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/Internet_censorship_bills/barlow_0296.declaration |archive-date=October 28, 2007}}</ref> Instead, ethics, [[enlightened self-interest]] and the commonwealth were the elements they believed to create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace.{{Sfn|Goldsmith|Wu|2006|p=20}}

In his 1990 piece "Crime and Puzzlement: in advance of the law on the electronic frontier", Barlow wrote about his firsthand experience with Phiber Optik ([[Mark Abene]]) and Acid Phreak ([[Elias Ladopoulos]]) from the hacker group [[Masters of Deception]], and mentioned [[Kevin Mitnick]]—all of whom were engaged in [[phone phreaking]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/crime_and_puzzlement_1.html|title=Crime and Puzzlement: in advance of the law on the electronic frontier.|work=Whole Earth Review (Fall 1990): 44–57|access-date=March 10, 2015|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|author-link=John Perry Barlow|date=June 8, 1990|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024192834/http://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/crime_and_puzzlement_1.html|archive-date=October 24, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The title alludes to ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' by [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://insecure.org/stf/HackersEncyclope2.0.html|title=Hacker's Encyclopedia|website=Insecure.org|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527042429/http://insecure.org/stf/HackersEncyclope2.0.html|archive-date=May 27, 2016}}</ref>

Barlow is credited with popularizing of the concept of [[Pronoia (psychology)|pronoia]] (defined as the opposite of [[paranoia]]) and was considered a celebrity ally of the [[Zippy Pronoia Tour]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pronoia.net/def.html|title=Pronoia (definition)|website=Pronoia.net|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402211916/http://pronoia.net/def.html|archive-date=April 2, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 1998, Barlow wrote the article "Africa Rising: Everything You Know About Africa Is Wrong" for ''Wired'', which documented the start of his extensive travels as he worked to expand Internet access across the continent: "I went from Mombasa to Tombouctou, experiencing various parts of [[Kenya]], [[Ghana]], the [[Ivory Coast]], [[Mali]], [[Uganda]], and the [[Virunga Mountains|Virunga volcano area]] where Uganda, [[Rwanda]], and [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|the Congo]] meet. Part of the idea was that I would attempt to email ''Wired'' a series of dispatches on my travels. The act of finding a port into cyberspace would be part of the adventure… Before I left, I believed Africans could proceed directly from the agricultural epoch into an information economy without having to submit to the dreary indignities and social pathologies of industrialization".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/6.01/barlow.html|title=Africa Rising|author=John Perry Barlow|date=January 1, 1998|magazine=WIRED|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112234857/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/6.01/barlow.html|archive-date=January 12, 2015}}</ref>

Barlow also returned to writing lyrics, most recently with [[The String Cheese Incident]]'s mandolinist and vocalist [[Michael Kang (musician)|Michael Kang]], including their song "Desert Dawn". He was seen many times with [[Carolyn Garcia]] (whose monologue is dubbed on the eponymous track "Mountain Girl"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jambase.com/Articles/4071/STRING-CHEESE-INCIDENT-UNTYING-THE-NOT|title=Music News & Concert Review|work=JamBase|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134035/http://www.jambase.com/Articles/4071/STRING-CHEESE-INCIDENT-UNTYING-THE-NOT|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>) at their concerts mixing with the fans and members in the band, and was a close friend of String Cheese Incident producer [[Jerry Harrison]]. He also participated with the [[Chicago]]-based [[jam band]] [[Mr. Blotto]] on their release ''Barlow Shanghai''. Barlow was a spiritual mentor and student of [[Kemp Muhl]] and [[Sean Lennon]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegoastt.com/bio.html|title=THE GOASTT|website=Thegoastt.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328145016/http://thegoastt.com/bio.html|archive-date=March 28, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> collaborating with their band [[The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger]] and making a cameo in their 2014 music video "Animals".<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhcR4rdzzoM|title=[HD] The GOASTT (The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger) – "Animals"|date=April 10, 2014|publisher=YouTube|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120182629/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhcR4rdzzoM|archive-date=November 20, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

One of Barlow's works that has remained in circulation is his "Principles of Adult Behavior", which he wrote in 1977 on the eve of his 30th birthday and continued to use to describe his approach to life.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/7/16988568/john-perry-barlow-internet-pioneer-obituary-electronic-frontier-foundation | title = Internet pioneer John Perry Barlow is dead at 70 | first = Russell | last = Brandom | date = February 7, 2018 | access-date = February 7, 2018 | work = [[The Verge]] | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180208090408/https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/7/16988568/john-perry-barlow-internet-pioneer-obituary-electronic-frontier-foundation | archive-date = February 8, 2018 | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1kgmes/i_am_john_perry_barlow_cofounder_of_the/|title=I am John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, lyricist for the Grateful Dead. My most recent work is with the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Ask Me Anything. : IAmA|work=Reddit.com|date=August 16, 2013|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531125810/https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1kgmes/i_am_john_perry_barlow_cofounder_of_the/|archive-date=May 31, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He described his reason for writing these as he was about to enter adulthood, "my wariness of the pursuit of happiness might be a subtle form of treason".<ref name="forbes asap">{{cite web | url = https://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/1203/096_print.html | title = The Pursuit of Emptiness | first = John Perry | last = Barlow | date = December 3, 2001 | access-date = February 7, 2018 | work = [[Forbes]] | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170205064221/http://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/1203/096_print.html | archive-date = February 5, 2017 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> While he considered most of the 25 statements similar to the platitudes [[Polonius]] dispensed to [[Prince Hamlet]], the 15th attracted attention: "Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that". That was counter to prevailing thought and "un-American". Barlow saw this more as a way to challenge how one perceived their life, their job, and their goals in life, and to not see achieving happiness as "an obligation [one owes] to Jefferson, the United States, or God Itself".<ref name="forbes asap"/>

===Politics===
Barlow was chairman of the [[Sublette County, Wyoming|Sublette County]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]],{{when|date=February 2020}} and served as western Wyoming campaign coordinator of [[Dick Cheney]]’s 1978 Congressional campaign.

Barlow was president of the [[Wyoming Outdoor Council]] from 1978 to 1984.

He was{{when|date=February 2020}} chairman of the Sublette County Master Plan Design Commission and served on the Sublette County Planning and Zoning Commission for many years; in that capacity, he was one of five ranchers who administered water distribution in the New Fork Irrigation District (an area of nearly 100,000 acres serving about 35 ranchers).<ref>{{Citation|title=Conference|contribution = New York city speakers: Barlow|format=PDF|date=June 2010|url=http://personaldemocracy.com/pdf-conference-2010-june-3-5-new-york-city-speakers#barlow|publisher=Personal democracy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527042208/http://personaldemocracy.com/pdf-conference-2010-june-3-5-new-york-city-speakers%23assange#barlow|archive-date=May 27, 2012}}</ref>

Despite having once lauded Cheney as "the smartest man I've ever met [with] the possible exception of [[Bill Gates]]", Barlow renounced Cheney before his vice presidency, owing to his perceived repudiation of environmental and civil-rights issues in Congress. Barlow opined that "Dick's votes… were parts of complex deals aimed at enhancing his own power… [H]e has the least interest in human beings of anyone I have ever met".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://washingtonmonthly.com/2003/11/09/a-profile-of-dick-cheney|title=A Profile of Dick Cheney|magazine=Washington Monthly|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104193002/http://washingtonmonthly.com/2003/11/09/a-profile-of-dick-cheney|archive-date=January 4, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=T.D. Allman|url=http://people.cs.ksu.edu/~schmidt/misc/rs.html|title=RollingStone.com: The Curse of Dick Cheney: Politics|website=People.cs.ksu.edu|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816232646/http://people.cs.ksu.edu/~schmidt/misc/rs.html|archive-date=August 16, 2017}}</ref>

Barlow was named "One of the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Services" in the June 1999 issue of ''FutureBanker Magazine''.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Perry Barlow - Professor of Cyberspace - Biography|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/biography|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318145952/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/biography|archive-date=March 18, 2015|access-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> By the early 2000s, Barlow was unable to reconcile his ardent [[libertarianism]] with the prevailing [[neoconservative]] movement, and "didn't feel tempted to vote for Bush". In 2004, he said that he was "voting for [[John Kerry]], though with little enthusiasm".<ref name="reason"/>

Contemporaneously, he characterized cocaine derogatorily as a "Republican drug" that "makes its users self-obsessed, aggressive, and greedy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shift.newco.co/2018/02/08/barlows-turn-of-phrase/|title=Newco Shift – Barlow's Turn of Phrase|date=February 8, 2018|website=Newco Shift|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-date=February 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123906/https://shift.newco.co/2018/02/08/barlows-turn-of-phrase/|url-status=live}}</ref> Barlow subsequently said that he remained a Republican, most notably during an appearance on ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' on March 26, 2007,<ref>{{Citation|title=The Colbert Report|date=March 26, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/a19udk/john-perry-barlow|title=John Perry Barlow – Video Clip|website=[[Comedy Central]]|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703153131/http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/a19udk/john-perry-barlow|archive-date=July 3, 2015}}</ref> and also claimed to be an [[anarchist]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Jayakar|first=Roshni|title=What stops free flow of information is dangerous|url=http://www.india-today.com/btoday/20001206/interview.html|work=Business Today|publisher=Living Media India|date=December 6, 2000|access-date=November 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009235727/http://www.india-today.com/btoday/20001206/interview.html|archive-date=October 9, 2007}}</ref>

Barlow said he voted for [[Natural Law Party]] [[President of the United States|Presidential]] candidate [[John Hagelin]] in [[United States Presidential Election, 2000|2000]] after discovering in the voting booth that his friend [[Nat Goldhaber]] was Hagelin's [[running mate]].<ref name="reason">{{cite news|title=Who's Getting Your Vote?|work=Reason|date=November 2004|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/29304.html|access-date=October 27, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029233711/http://www.reason.com/news/show/29304.html|archive-date=October 29, 2008}}</ref> He said in 2004: "I'm embarrassed for my country that in my entire voting life, there has never been a major-party candidate whom I felt I could vote for. All of my presidential votes, whether for [[George Wallace]], [[Dick Gregory]], or John Hagelin, have been protest votes".<ref name="reason"/> Barlow condemned [[Donald Trump]] in November 2016, characterizing him as a "thorough creep" and "toxic asshole" in a [[Facebook]] "micromanifesto".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://i.redd.it/n30qu08k4twx.png|title=I realized at...|access-date=November 21, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121234713/https://i.redd.it/n30qu08k4twx.png|archive-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref>

===Later work===
Until his death, Barlow served on the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation|EFF]]'s board of directors, where he was listed as a co-founder after previously serving as vice chairman.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eff.org/about/board |title=&#124; Electronic Frontier Foundation|website=Eff.org|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314024331/https://www.eff.org/about/board|archive-date=March 14, 2017}}</ref> The EFF was designed to mediate the "inevitable conflicts that have begun to occur on the border between Cyberspace and the physical world". It tried to build a legal wall separating and protecting the Internet from territorial government, especially the US government.{{Sfn|Goldsmith|Wu|2006|pp=18-19}}
[[File:John Perry Barlow dove hunting near Corpus Christi, Texas.jpg|left|thumb|Barlow dove hunting with a shotgun near [[Corpus Christi, Texas]] in 2014]]
In 2012, Barlow was one of the founders of the EFF-related [[Freedom of the Press Foundation]] and also served on its board of directors until his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://freedom.press/about/board|title=Board of Directors|work=Freedom of the Press Foundation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620093646/https://freedom.press/about/board|archive-date=June 20, 2016}}</ref> He had several public conversations via video conference with fellow Freedom of the Press Foundation Board of Directors member [[Edward Snowden]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://freedom.press/blog/2014/01/edward-snowden-join-daniel-ellsberg-others-freedom-press-foundations-board-directors|title=Edward Snowden To Join Daniel Ellsberg, Others on Freedom of the Press Foundation's Board of Directors|work=Freedom of the Press Foundation|date=January 14, 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412150432/https://freedom.press/blog/2014/01/edward-snowden-join-daniel-ellsberg-others-freedom-press-foundations-board-directors|archive-date=April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://civic.mit.edu/edward-snowden-john-perry-barlow|title=Edward Snowden in conversation with John Perry Barlow – Liveblog at PDF'14|website=Civic.mit.edu|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326204646/https://civic.mit.edu/edward-snowden-john-perry-barlow|archive-date=March 26, 2016}}</ref> and appeared in interviews with [[Julian Assange]] of [[WikiLeaks]] touting Snowden as a hero.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2013/06/11/julian-assange-and-john-perry.html|title=Julian Assange and John Perry Barlow in joint interview on NSA Prism leaks: "Snowden is a hero"|date=June 11, 2013|work=Boing Boing|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101538/http://boingboing.net/2013/06/11/julian-assange-and-john-perry.html|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

Barlow was a Fellow of the [[Berkman Center for Internet and Society]] at Harvard Law School (1997–2007; Fellow [[Emeritus]] thereafter);<ref name="BerkmanFellow">
{{multiref|
{{cite web |url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/fellows.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011106014550/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/fellows.html |archive-date=2001-11-06 |title=Fellows |publisher=Berkman Center for Internet and Society |url-status=dead }}|
{{cite web |url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu:80/home/people |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515063657/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu:80/home/people |archive-date=2007-05-15 |title=People |publisher=Berkman Center for Internet and Society |url-status=dead }}|
{{cite web |url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/emeritus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117084940/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/emeritus |archive-date=2008-01-17 |title=Berkman Center Emeritus |publisher=Berkman Center for Internet and Society |url-status=dead }}|
{{cite web|url=https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/emeritus|title=People; Emeritus |publisher=Berkman Klein Center|website=Cyber.law.harvard.edu |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206231736/https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/jbarlow |archive-date=2019-12-06 }}
}}
</ref> a member of the advisory board of [[Diamond Management & Technology Consultants]] (1994–2008);<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/johnperrybarlow|title=Security Check Required|publisher=[[Facebook]]|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024211438/https://www.facebook.com/johnperrybarlow|archive-date=October 24, 2017}}{{Self-published source|date=November 2021}}</ref> a member of the [[International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences]];{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} and "professor of cyberspace" (2011) at the [[European Graduate School]] in [[Saas-Fee, Switzerland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow|title=John Perry Barlow – Professor of Cyberspace: biography|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803054914/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow|archive-date=August 3, 2011}}</ref>

In his final years, Barlow spent much of his time on the road, lecturing about and consulting on civil rights, freedom of speech, the state of the internet and the EFF. He delivered lectures and panel discussions at TWiT Live,<ref name="TWiT">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2U-6tHE3Wg|title=The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the state of freedom on the Internet|publisher=TWiT Live|last1=Barlow|first1=John Perry|first2=Leo|last2=Laporte|author2-link=Leo Laporte|first3=Tom|last3=Merritt|author3-link=Tom Merritt|date=October 20, 2010|access-date=October 20, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731183312/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2U-6tHE3Wg|archive-date=July 31, 2013}}</ref> TedxHamburg, Hamburg (Germany),<ref name="TedX">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XCg3j9jY6A|title=The Power of the Internet|publisher=Tedx|place=Hamburg|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|date=May 27, 2010|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130621024301/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XCg3j9jY6A|archive-date=June 21, 2013}}</ref> Greenfest SF,<ref name="GreenfestSF">{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/conscious-evolution-to-practical-solutions|title=Conscious Evolution to Practical Solutions|publisher=Greenfest SF|last1=Amorim|first1=João|first2=Daniel|last2=Pinchbeck|author2-link=Daniel Pinchbeck|first3=Barbara Marx|last3=Hubbard|author3-link=Barbara Marx Hubbard|first4=Tiokasin|last4=Ghosthorse|first5=John Perry|last5=Barlow|date=April 10, 2010|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319182245/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/conscious-evolution-to-practical-solutions/|archive-date=March 19, 2012}}</ref> Civitas (Norwegian think tank),<ref name="Civitas">{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/internet-property-and-the-freedom-of-speech|title=Internet, Property and the Freedom of Speech|publisher=Civitas (Norwegian think tank)|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|date=April 24, 2009|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319182259/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/internet-property-and-the-freedom-of-speech/|archive-date=March 19, 2012}}</ref> [[Internet Society]] (New York Chapter),<ref name="Isoc">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhf63UZMo0M|title=The First Internet Election|publisher=[[Internet Society]] (New York Chapter)|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|date=October 27, 2008|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100126100544/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhf63UZMo0M|archive-date=January 26, 2010}}</ref> the [[USC Center on Public Diplomacy]],<ref name="Usc">{{cite web|type=audio|format=MP3|url=http://centeronpublicdiplomacy.com/podcasts/061113_gilmore_barlow.mp3|title=Fulbright Chair Speaker Series|publisher=USC Center on Public Diplomacy|last1=Barlow|first1=John Perry|author2-link=John Gilmore (activist)|first2=John|last2=Gilmore|date=November 14, 2006|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061204012013/http://centeronpublicdiplomacy.com/podcasts/061113_gilmore_barlow.mp3|archive-date=December 4, 2006}}</ref> and the European Graduate School.<ref name="egs">{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/independence-declaration-of-cyberspace|title=Independence Declaration of Cyberspace|publisher=[[European Graduate School]]|place=[[Saas-Fee|Saas-Fee, Switzerland]]|last=Barlow|first=John Perry|date=June 12, 2006|access-date=November 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608033328/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/john-perry-barlow/videos/independence-declaration-of-cyberspace|archive-date=June 8, 2011}}</ref> On September 16, 2012, he was a presenter at TEDxSantaCruz,{{clarify|date=February 2018}} in [[Santa Cruz, California]].<ref name="tedxs">{{cite web|url=http://www.tedxsantacruz.org/events/tedxsantacruz-2012-open|title=Open|publisher=TEDx|place=Santa Cruz, CA|date=September 15, 2012|access-date=September 16, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904012649/http://www.tedxsantacruz.org/events/tedxsantacruz-2012-open|archive-date=September 4, 2012}}</ref>

On September 8, 2014, Barlow was the first speaker in the Art, Activism, and Technology: The 50th Anniversary of the Free Speech Movement colloquium series at [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arts.berkeley.edu/?page_id=1089|title=Art, Technology, & Culture Colloquium|website=Arts.berkeley.edu|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929081314/http://arts.berkeley.edu/?page_id=1089|archive-date=September 29, 2015}}</ref>

Barlow also served on the advisory boards of the [[Marijuana Policy Project]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Advisory Board |url=http://www.mpp.org/vip |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223011150/http://www.mpp.org/vip/ |archive-date=February 23, 2012 |publisher=[[Marijuana Policy Project]] |access-date=March 29, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Clear Path International, [[TTI/Vanguard]], the [[Hypothes.is]] project,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hypothes.is|title=The Internet, peer reviewed|publisher=Hypothesis|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330215837/https://hypothes.is/|archive-date=March 30, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> the stakeholder engagement nonprofit Future 500 and the global company Touch Light Media<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.touchlightmedia.com|title=Touch Light Media profile|website=Touchlightmedia.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330010229/http://www.touchlightmedia.com/|archive-date=March 30, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> founded by Anita Ondine. He was a collaborator on the WetheData project founded by [[Juliette Powell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mappr.io/offerings/artists/#|title=Artists « Mappr|access-date=March 7, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115311/http://mappr.io/offerings/artists|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

He was Vice President at Algae Systems, a Nevada-based company with a working demo-scale pilot plant in [[Daphne, Alabama]], dedicated to commercializing novel methods at the [[water-energy nexus]] for growing microalgae offshore as a [[second-generation biofuels]] feedstock and converting it to useful [[Petroleum|crude]] via [[hydrothermal liquefaction]], while simultaneously treating [[wastewater]], reducing [[carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere]], and producing [[biochar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://algaesystems.com|title=Algae Systems|website=Algaesystems.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328081255/http://algaesystems.com/|archive-date=March 28, 2016}}</ref>

At Startup Grind Jackson Hole on March 13, 2015, Barlow said that he was motivated to team up with Algae Systems after undergoing back surgery to address pain from an old ranching injury, while he had been an advisor to [[Herbert M. Allison|Herb Allison]] (president of [[Merrill Lynch]] at the time) and working to completely "electronify" financial transactions and speculative asset assembly. The surgery successfully alleviated the pain and catalyzed Barlow to change his focus from building wealth to building infrastructure in order to do something about the "amount of alterations we are already enacting on Planet Earth… We are not necessarily making it warmer, but weirder". At Startup Grind Jackson Hole, Barlow also explained how once over tea with "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement" [[Margaret Murie|Mardy Murie]], he was inspired by her words, "Environmentalists can be a pain in the ass… But they make great ancestors". Adopting this philosophy, he stated, "I want to be a good ancestor".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://startupgrind.com/2015/03/john-perry-barlow-a-good-ancestor|title=John Perry Barlow: A Good Ancestor|website=Startupgrind.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520235726/http://startupgrind.com/2015/03/john-perry-barlow-a-good-ancestor|archive-date=May 20, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref>[[File:John Perry Barlow serving as wedding minister at Mount Tamalpais.jpg|thumb|Barlow serving as wedding minister at [[Mount Tamalpais]] on July 11, 2014]]

For several years, Barlow attended [[Burning Man]]. In 2013, he led a [[town hall meeting]] with Burning Man co-founder [[Larry Harvey]] about "the current state [o]f Practical Anarchy at Burning Man".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/skoolfak/WfJrdUNcm9s|title=Google Groups|website=Groups.google.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/skoolfak/WfJrdUNcm9s|archive-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/07/larry-harvey-and-jp-barlow-on-burning-mans-sharing-economy-and-our-tech-future-tctv|title=Larry Harvey And JP Barlow On Burning Man's Sharing Economy, And Our Tech Future [TCTV]|date=June 7, 2013|publisher=AOL|work=TechCrunch|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816235208/https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/07/larry-harvey-and-jp-barlow-on-burning-mans-sharing-economy-and-our-tech-future-tctv|archive-date=August 16, 2017}}</ref>

A stir in the media transpired when retired U.S. Army general [[Wesley Clark]] attended Burning Man in 2013 and spent time with Barlow and Harvey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/general-wesley-clark-seems-to-be-at-burning-man.html|title=General Wesley Clark Supposedly at Burning Man|work=Daily Intelligencer|date=September 2013 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091401/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/general-wesley-clark-seems-to-be-at-burning-man.html|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

Barlow appeared in many films and television shows, both as an actor and as himself. Interviews with Barlow have been featured in documentaries such as the [[Tao Ruspoli]]-directed film ''Monogamish'' (under production),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mangu.tv/film/monogamish-the-film/|title=Monogamish – The Film|author=Dan Savage, Christopher Ryan & more|work=Mangu.TV|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308034651/http://mangu.tv/film/monogamish-the-film|archive-date=March 8, 2015}}</ref> ''Bits & Bytes'' (under production),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1927439285/bits-and-bytes|title=Bits & Bytes|author=Emil Tanem|website=Kickstarter.com|date=January 21, 2015 |access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326205615/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1927439285/bits-and-bytes|archive-date=March 26, 2016}}</ref> and ''Dying to Know: [[Ram Dass]] & Timothy Leary''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dyingtoknowmovie.com|title=Home – Dying to Know|work=Dying to Know|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313223011/http://dyingtoknowmovie.com/|archive-date=March 13, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref>{{update needed|date=December 2025}}

The [[iPhone]] [[Mobile app|app]] Detour, released in February 2015 by [[Groupon]] founder and ex-CEO [[Andrew Mason]], features a 75-minute audio tour narrated by Barlow as he walks through the [[Tenderloin, San Francisco|Tenderloin]] neighborhood in downtown San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.tulsaworld.com/business/transportation/groupon-founder-andrew-mason-takes-a-detour-with-new-audio/article_2ccff5f2-6745-5324-bd75-c33d037ca971.html?mode=jqm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150309225632/http://m.tulsaworld.com/business/transportation/groupon-founder-andrew-mason-takes-a-detour-with-new-audio/article_2ccff5f2-6745-5324-bd75-c33d037ca971.html?mode=jqm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 9, 2015|title=Groupon founder Andrew Mason takes a 'Detour' with new audio tour app|work=Tulsa World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025649296_inpersonmasonxml.html|title=Groupon founder turns to developing audio-tour app|work=The Seattle Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817033921/http://old.seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025649296_inpersonmasonxml.html|archive-date=August 17, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GypZCF9RgU|title=The Making of Soundwalk: Tenderloin|publisher=YouTube|date=February 12, 2015|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312160754/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GypZCF9RgU|archive-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref>

Barlow was also a self-ordained minister who performed baptisms and weddings.{{Sfn|Gray|2000|p=40}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/jpbarlow/status/488395509506121728|title=John Perry Barlow|work=Twitter|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212729/https://twitter.com/jpbarlow/status/488395509506121728|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

Barlow's memoir, ''Mother American Night: My Life in Crazy Times'', was published posthumously in June 2018. Written with [[Robert Greenfield]], it is a full-length recounting of his life and times. The book was completed days before Barlow's death in February of that year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mother American Night|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554592/mother-american-night-by-john-perry-barlow-with-robert-greenfield/9781524760182/|website=Penguin Random House|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414011207/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554592/mother-american-night-by-john-perry-barlow-with-robert-greenfield/9781524760182/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Barlow married Elaine Parker Barlow in 1977,{{Sfn | Jones | 2002 | p = 23}} and the couple had three daughters: Amelia Rose, Anna Winter, and Leah Justine.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newsweek.com/who-john-perry-barlow-internet-advocate-and-grateful-dead-lyricist-passes-away-801273|title=WHO IS JOHN PERRY BARLOW? INTERNET ADVOCATE AND GRATEFUL DEAD LYRICIST PASSES AWAY AT 70|magazine=Newsweek|date=February 7, 2018|author=Valencia, Robert|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208223046/http://www.newsweek.com/who-john-perry-barlow-internet-advocate-and-grateful-dead-lyricist-passes-away-801273|archive-date=February 8, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Elaine and John separated in 1992 and divorced in 1995. In 2002, he helped his friend Simone Banos (a realtor, entrepreneur,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.us/lifestyle/get-the-model-treatment-with-row-a/zsJoce---EHl97byyLnw6/|title=Get the model treatment with Row A|author=Emily Laurence|date=March 5, 2015|work=Metro|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150309225626/http://www.metro.us/lifestyle/get-the-model-treatment-with-row-a/zsJoce---EHl97byyLnw6/|archive-date=March 9, 2015}}</ref> model<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bellaagency.com/portfolio.aspx?nav=3&city=ny&modelID=594947&subid=5493&mainsubid=5493|title=Bella Agency|author=Staff|website=Bellaagency.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329133947/http://bellaagency.com/portfolio.aspx?nav=3&city=ny&modelID=594947&subid=5493&mainsubid=5493|archive-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref> and actress) deliver her daughter Emma Victoria, whom he regarded as his surrogate daughter thereafter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.narconews.com/Issue29/article728.html|title=The Most Emotionally Healthy Culture on the Planet|website=Narconews.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514051536/http://www.narconews.com/Issue29/article728.html|archive-date=May 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobypicture.com/user/JPBarlow/view/15666637|title=With my glorious surrogate daughter, Emma Victoria Banos (now 11) and her mother Simone in NYC|work=Mobypicture|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125927/http://www.mobypicture.com/user/JPBarlow/view/15666637|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

Barlow was engaged to Cynthia Horner, a doctor he met in 1993 at the [[Moscone Center]] in [[San Francisco]] while she was attending a [[psychiatry]] conference and Barlow was participating in a [[Steve Jobs]] comedy [[Roast (comedy)|roast]] at a convention for the [[NeXT Computer]]. She died unexpectedly in 1994 while asleep on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City, days before her 30th birthday, from a [[heart arrhythmia]] apparently caused by undetected viral [[myocarditis]]. Barlow describes this period in his life in the ''[[This American Life]]'' episode "Conventions", from August 29, 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/74/conventions|title=Conventions|last=Glass|first=Ira|date=August 29, 1997|work=This American Life|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930160205/http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=74|archive-date=September 30, 2007|url-status=live|access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:A lighter moment (48949962).jpg|thumb|{{center|Barlow in 2005}}]]

Barlow had been a good friend and mentor to [[John F. Kennedy Jr.]], ever since his mother [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] had made arrangements for her troublesome son to be a wrangler at the Bar Cross Ranch for six months in 1978. The two men later went on many double dates in New York City with Cynthia and Kennedy's then-girlfriend [[Daryl Hannah]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/slideshow/Iconic-80s-actresses-51412/photo-3650367.php|title=Darryl Hannah worked a lot in the '80s, as a mermaid in... Photo-3650367.51412|author=Vanessa Ho|date=October 27, 2012|work=seattlepi.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093827/http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/slideshow/Iconic-80s-actresses-51412/photo-3650367.php|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|publisher=CNN|title=American Morning|type=interview|first=John Perry|last=Barlow|date=July 2, 2003|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0307/02/ltm.06.html|format=transcript|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531121519/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0307/02/ltm.06.html|archive-date=May 31, 2009}}</ref>

In a piece for [[Nerve (website)|Nerve]], "A Ladies Man and Shameless: A Polygamist's Manifesto",<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McKay |first=Niall |date=September 23, 1998 |title=Some Nerve |magazine=WIRED |url=https://www.wired.com/1998/09/some-nerve/ |access-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525175519/https://www.wired.com/1998/09/some-nerve/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Barlow professed his love of many women at the same time, and summarized the relationships in his personal life: "I doubt I'll ever be monogamous again ... I want to know as many more women as time and their indulgence will permit me ... There are probably twenty-five or thirty women—I certainly don't count them—for whom I feel an abiding and deep emotional attachment. They're scattered all over the planet. They range in age from less than half to almost twice my own. Most of these relationships are not actively sexual. Some were at one time. More never will be. But most of them feel as if they could become so. I love the feel of that tension, the delicious gravity of possibilities".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brainwaving.com/2010/07/13/a-ladies-man-and-shameless|title=A Ladies' Man and Shameless &#124; Brainwaving|access-date=April 16, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211003304/http://www.brainwaving.com/2010/07/13/a-ladies-man-and-shameless|archive-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref>

Barlow was a friend and former roommate<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gawker.com/302715/john-perry-barlows-bacchanal-on-clayton-street|title=John Perry Barlow's bacchanal on Clayton Street|author=Megan McCarthy|publisher=Gawker Media|work=Gawker|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141814/http://gawker.com/302715/john-perry-barlows-bacchanal-on-clayton-street|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> of the technology entrepreneur [[Sean Parker]].

In 2014, Barlow suffered the loss of Buck, his beloved [[Maine Coon]] cat that he believed to be a [[bodhisattva]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobypicture.com/user/JPBarlow/view/17195043|title=I give almost anything to have my sweet Avatar Cat Buckynanda Ji velcro'd to me now. But he's pure light again.|work=Mobypicture|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094754/http://www.mobypicture.com/user/JPBarlow/view/17195043|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> the cat had many fans on social media.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/buckthecat|title=Security Check Required|website=Facebook.com|access-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208090408/https://www.facebook.com/buckthecat|archive-date=February 8, 2018}}{{original research inline|date=November 2021}}</ref>

After a series of illnesses, Barlow suffered a near-fatal heart attack on May 27, 2015. He later reported that he was recovering.<ref>Garchik, Leah (June 7, 2015). [http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/garchik/article/John-Perry-Barlow-says-he-s-come-back-from-the-6311840.php "John Perry Barlow Says He's Come Back from the Dead"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612053605/http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/garchik/article/John-Perry-Barlow-says-he-s-come-back-from-the-6311840.php|date=June 12, 2015}}, ''San Francisco Chronicle''; retrieved June 7, 2015.</ref> After a prolonged hospitalization, the John Perry Barlow Wellness Fund was established in October 2016 to allay outstanding medical bills and "provide the quality and consistency of care that is critical to Barlow's recovery as he faces a variety of debilitating health conditions", including "extremely compromised mobility".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://donorbox.org/john-perry-barlow-wellness-fund|title=John Perry Barlow Wellness Fund at|website=[[DonorBox]]|publisher=Rebel Idealist LLC|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106200157/https://donorbox.org/john-perry-barlow-wellness-fund|archive-date=November 6, 2016}}</ref> A concert held on October 11, 2016, to benefit the fund at [[Sweetwater Saloon|Sweetwater Music Hall]] in [[Mill Valley, California]], featured Weir, [[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]], [[Jerry Harrison]], [[Les Claypool]], [[Robin Sylvester]], [[Jeff Chimenti]], [[Steve Kimock]], [[Sean Lennon]], [[Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real|Lukas Nelson]], and members of [[The String Cheese Incident]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deadheadland.com/2016/10/25/setlist-everyday-miracle-a-benefit-for-john-perry-barlow-weir-lennon-kimock-claypool-kang-chimenti-harrison-mon-oct-24-2016sweetwater-music-hallmill-valley-ca|title=SETLIST: Everyday Miracle: A Benefit for John Perry Barlow|publisher=Deadheadland|date=October 24, 2016|access-date=March 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427104010/http://www.deadheadland.com/2016/10/25/setlist-everyday-miracle-a-benefit-for-john-perry-barlow-weir-lennon-kimock-claypool-kang-chimenti-harrison-mon-oct-24-2016sweetwater-music-hallmill-valley-ca|archive-date=April 27, 2017}}</ref>

===Death===
Barlow died in his sleep on the night of February 7, 2018, at his San Francisco home, at the age of 70.<ref name="Washington Post 2018">{{cite news|title=John Perry Barlow, Grateful Dead lyricist and advocate for an open Internet, dies at 70|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2018-02-08|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-perry-barlow-grateful-dead-lyricist-and-advocate-for-an-open-internet-dies-at-70/2018/02/08/e837ae62-0d0f-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html|access-date=2018-02-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209011949/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-perry-barlow-grateful-dead-lyricist-and-advocate-for-an-open-internet-dies-at-70/2018/02/08/e837ae62-0d0f-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html|archive-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name="NBC">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/john-perry-barlow-open-internet-champion-grateful-dead-lyricist-dies-n845781|title=John Perry Barlow, open internet champion and Grateful Dead lyricist, dies at 70|publisher=[[NBC]]|date=February 7, 2018|access-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208015510/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/john-perry-barlow-open-internet-champion-grateful-dead-lyricist-dies-n845781|archive-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Scott|last=Bernstein|date=February 7, 2018|url=https://www.jambase.com/article/john-perry-barlow-grateful-dead-lyricist-died|title=Grateful Dead Lyricist & Political Activist John Perry Barlow, 1947–2018|website=JamBase|access-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208002851/https://www.jambase.com/article/john-perry-barlow-grateful-dead-lyricist-died|archive-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |title=The Internet: A Historical Encyclopedia |volume=1: ''Biographies'' |date=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=1851096590 |ref={{sfnref|The Internet: Biographies}} }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Jack |first2=Tim |last2=Wu |date=February 24, 2006 |title=Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World |title-link=Who Controls the Internet? |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0195152662}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Spalding|title=Morning, Noon and Night|isbn=0374527210|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|location=US |date=September 30, 2000}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Steve |date=December 10, 2002 |title=Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgVzAwAAQBAJ&q=john+perry+barlow+wife+elaine+parker&pg=PA23 |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=1452265283}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|auto=1|d=Q534428}}
{{wikinews|Poet, lyricist, and digital activist John Perry Barlow dies, aged 70}}
* {{C-SPAN|40959}}
* {{cite web |title=John Perry Barlow Library |date=February 9, 2018 |url=https://www.eff.org/john-perry-barlow |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |access-date=2024-03-22}}
* {{cite web|title=Barlow Home(stead) Page|url=https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/|publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108074916/https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/|archive-date=January 8, 2011}}
* [http://www.dead.net Official Grateful Dead Website]
* [https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8zs344q John Perry Barlow Papers] housed at [[Stanford University Libraries]]
* {{allMusic}}
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{MusicBrainz artist}}

{{GratefulDead}}
{{Internet Hall of Fame}}
{{Portal bar|Biography}}
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