Influential journo Al Aronowitz dies
The date: 2nd August 2005

Highly respected writer Al Aronowitz, responsible for inspiring Hunter S Thompson and a friend of Jack Kerouac, has died aged 77.

Aronowitz died of cancer yesterday morning. His 12-part series on 'beat' culture, written in 1959 for The New York Post, enabled him to befriend poet Allen Ginsberg and novelist Kerouac, but it was his relationship with Bob Dylan and The Beatles, however brief, that made his name.

Aronowitz introduced Dylan to The Beatles in 1964, and also claimed that 'Mr Tambourine Man' was written in his kitchen.

"The Beatles' magic was in their sound. Bob's magic was in his words. After they met, the Beatles' words got grittier, and Bob invented folk-rock," he said.

Aronowitz's style of writing - 'participatory journalism' - was later adapted by Thompson and his peers.