Burt Wilson

Burt John Wilson (January 24, 1933 – January 6, 2021) was an American philosopher, writer, broadcaster, jazz musician, political activist, playwright, and advertising executive.

College Wilson received a B.A. degree in Telecommunications from the University of Southern California in 1955. While at USC, Wilson served as the writer and announcer for the pre-game and halftime activities, in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, for the Spirit of Troy, the USC Trojan Marching Band, under the direction of Tommy Walker. On October 30, 1954, Wilson was involved in an accident where a steel tower collapsed at USC's Bovard Field during a morning rehearsal for Band Day featuring a musical tribute on the 100th birthday of Bandmaster John Philip Sousa. There were about 20 people on the platform. Wilson was taken to the Georgia Street Hospital with injuries to his head, abdomen, and legs. After receiving treatment, Wilson asked the police to drive him to the USC-Oregon State game, at the coliseum, where he announced the pre-game and half-time band activities from memory.

In his Junior year, Wilson produced the annual inter-fraternity variety show "Trolios" which was staged at the huge Shrine Auditorium, near the USC campus. In his Senior year, Wilson wrote and staged his fraternity's (Theta Chi) Trolios entry, "Social Probation Blues" which won third place in the show. 25 fraternities had entered.

Wilson was also a founding member of Tau Alpha Sigma (TAS), USC's professional communications fraternity.

Career and Public Service

Army Wilson served in the U.S. Army, in Germany, as a radio announcer and soldier show producer from 1955 to 1958. While he was with Special Services, he produced the Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate, and toured it to many army bases around Europe. Wilson also served as army talent scout for producer Warren, supplying actors for the Citizen Soldier series. One of Wilson's "finds" was John Erwin who did five leads in the series and later starred as Teddy on Rawhide. Erwin would later become famous as the voice of Morris the Cat, as well as the voice of various cartoon characters, and starring in movie roles.

Advertising Wilson's advertising career runs concurrently with his public service projects. After his return from Germany, Wilson worked as a commercial copywriter at KXOA radio and commercial writer/producer at KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California. He then launched his own advertising agency, MediaScope Advertising, Ltd. Among his many clients was Shakey's Pizza Parlors, where he formed his lifelong friendship with its co-founder, Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and led to his eventual authoring of the book Shakey and Me. In 1965, wanting the "Los Angeles experience", Wilson moved South and went to work for Boylhart, Lovett and Dean as an account executive. In 1968, Wilson was nominated as "Advertising Man of the Year" by the Western States Advertising Association because of his volunteerism in Watts after the riots. He was beat out by H. R. "Bob" Haldeman who later became Chief of Staff for President Richard Nixon and was later sent to jail because of his involvement in Watergate. In 1969, Wilson made the leap to Creative Director at Needham, Harper, and Steers, a national agency. From NH&S, Wilson moved to the Goodman Organization, an entertainment agency. This provided him with an entrée to American International Pictures where he worked freelance for a number of years creating their broadcast campaigns for such movies as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, Frogs, and Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Wilson moved to New York City in 1979 and managed an in-house ad agency for April-Marcus, a national clothing merchandiser. Wilson returned to California in 1981 to act as free media director for the Campaign against the Peripheral Canal. The canal was defeated by a 2/3 vote statewide. In 1983, Wilson was named Director of Advertising for Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays where he managed a 10-person Advertising Department. In 1989, he opened his own television production company in Simi Valley where he wrote and produced industrial videos and cable TV commercials.

In 1968, Wilson began producing and hosting a public service radio program "What You Can Do For Your Country" on KMET-FM in Los Angeles. He used the program to attract young people to his Revitalization Corps work in Watts. Thousands of high school students came to Watts over the four-year run of the show. Wilson received a prestigious Columbia University Edwin Howard Armstrong award, also known as the "Major Armstrong award", for the program.

In 1977, Wilson ran for State Assemblyman from the 46th District, in Los Angeles County. He came in third in a 17-candidate race. Later that year, Wilson was overwhelmingly voted to the Los Angeles County Democratic Committee. That year he was also elected as the Southern vice-president of the CDC, the California Democratic Council.

In 1981–2, as a political campaign activist, Wilson played a major role as Media Director in the defeat of the Peripheral Canal proposition, a measure which would have diverted Northern California water South by means of the construction of a huge, cement canal that was considered to be environmentally adverse. The proposition was defeated by a 2/3 vote statewide.

Philosophy In 1966, Wilson was introduced to the teaching of Agni Yoga through a friend. He met his guru, Ralph Harris Houston, in October of that same year and became his disciple in 1968. He credits Houston as inspiring him to fight injustice and serve the community as a consumer and political activist. In 1990, after the death of renowned American philosopher Manly Palmer Hall, a long-time friend of his guru, Wilson was invited to fulfill some of Hall's speaking engagements at the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) in Los Angeles. Wilson became a prominent lecturer on esoteric metaphysics at PRS and was elected to the board of trustees of the society the following year.

In 2011, another of Wilson's video productions, "CSI: Sacramento", a spoof of the TV series, was featured in the "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival.

From 2011 to 2015, Wilson continued to write books and was well known for his op-ed editorials against the state water agencies' desire to once more divert more water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California by building twin tunnels under the Delta.

Wilson moved back to Binghamton, New York, in 2015 to teach an Agni Yoga class there and work with Citizen Action, a volunteer organization that works for economic justice. Shortly thereafter, he finished his first novel and completed another book with an ancient wisdom religious theme.

Death Wilson died from complications of COVID-19 on January 6, 2021, at the age of 87, during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York.