I was surprised to read of the death of UW-Madison Anthropology professor Neil Whitehead this morning. I interviewed Whitehead in fall for my article in Wisconsin Trails (Ink Artists) since he did research into tattooing as well as American subcultures. The Journal Sentinel's obituary of Whitehead mentions his interest in Goth, but my first exposure to Whitehead's research on tattooing was randomly catching him interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth about tattooing in January 2010- you can listed to the show online. This was just after the publication of my book, and, as always, I'm very interested in the discussion of tattooing in the media. I was impressed by Whitehead's knowledge about tattoo history, but I was more impressed by how deftly he handled the ridiculous and offensive callers who wanted nothing more than to share their offensive and ill-informed opinions about the low mental & moral capacity of those who are tattooed. I also vowed never to do a call-in radio show. Whitehead's reasoned and informed words on tattoo history and culture are an inspiration to further research and study.
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