John Kenneth Press was born on May 22^nd, 1964. His parents were hippies of a sort. For one thing they named him after John F. Kennedy who had been shot six months before his birth.

He grew up in Venice Beach and Santa Monica California. His parents participated in the divorce trend when he was eleven. This caused his young life to sputter a bit. We can see from the biography so far that the greater trends of society are not impersonal.

Before and after graduating from high school, John played music in the Los Angeles punk rock scene. He eventually played with members of Sonic Youth, Red Cross and Nirvana. These were, however, short lived experiences.

After completing a solo recording in which he played all of the instruments Press traveled for a year and a half. Visiting Europe, West Africa, Israel and Egypt made quite an impression on him. He lived with Muslim cults, saw great art, and was turned rightward politically.

Upon returning to Los Angeles he joined the famed cult glam group the Groovie Ghoulies. But this short stay was interrupted when he moved to San Jose to pursue a degree in psychology and two teaching credentials. He had adopted, at this point, a love of capitalism, which was soon to be nearly entirely reversed.

At San Jose Press accomplished his academic goals. He also took many extra credits and became the Vice President of the campus environmental group. When the first war with Iraq was looming, he dropped out of school to protest and prevent it. In doing so he joined the musical ensemble 100^th Monkee Generation: Difference Between Everything and widely toured to leftist events.

After a car wreck that nearly took his life, the death of a friend, and the insanity of a girlfriend it was a time for a change. He moved on to teach English in Korea. While in Korea he broke his knee doing martial arts and met his future wife. After traveling for another six months he returned to Los Angeles.

At first substitute teaching was Press’ source of sustenance. Soon, however, he found a position in the wonderful Eagle Rock Jr. / Sr. High School community. There he taught cultural awareness, philosophy, psychology, and U.S. History for eight years. He also served as the union representative for three years.

Press earned a Master’s degree simultaneous to his teaching. He also turned forty and wrote three book length manuscripts. Realizing that he was not going to be able to meet the academic demands of writing culturism while teaching full time, he moved to Korea. There, living with his wife in Seoul, he wrote culturism.

While in Korea Press also got accepted to a doctorate program in the History of Education at NYU. His doctorate will focus on one Frances Kellor. He lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.