educators, advertising and media executives sought him for lectures, Playboy  magazine interviewed him, the popular television show Laugh-In  made his name a catch-phrase, intellectual heavyweights such as Norman Mailer and Dwight MacDonald vehemently hailed or denounced him, John Lennon worshipfully came visiting, Abbie Hoffman regarded him as a prophet of the Woodstock Nation—McLuhan’s prediction that the new media would lead to a richer sensory balance and in-depth involvement in all aspects of life for youth particularly appealed—and even The New Yorker  certified his status as a cultural icon by citing him in a cartoon.

Something in the air of the ’60s was receptive to an all-embracing and basically optimistic theory of change such as McLuhan offered. Events as varied as the Second