Chef Ra
| Born |
October 10, 1950 Charleston, West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Died |
December 26, 2006 (aged 56) Urbana, Illinois |
| Cooking style | Ganja (marijuana) |
| Education | Urbana High School where he was class president his senior year. He attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Chef Ra (October 10, 1950 – December 26, 2006), born Jim Wilson, Jr.,[1] was a long-time cannabis advocate and cannabis foods writer in the United States. After gaining notoriety as a ganja gourmet, he began writing his High Times column, "Chef Ra's Psychedelic Kitchen", in 1988 at the request of editor Steve Hager. Ra was a fixture of Ann Arbor's Hash Bash, speaking out about the benefits of cannabis for 19 consecutive years before his death.[2]
Writings
"Chef Ra's Psychedelic Kitchen" column appeared in High Times off and on for 15 years.[3] The articles would weave together Ra's insights on life together with a new ganja recipe. Ra would also report on travels to cannabis culture events.[4] Selected columns from Chef Ra's Recipe Box remain available online.
Filmography
Chef Ra starred in a pair of videos produced by High Times, including Ganja Gourmet (2003) and Chef Ra Escapes Babylon (1980s). The latter features Ra’s visit to Jamaica, and had a rare public screening at the 1998 Freaky Film Festival in Champaign-Urbana.[5] Ra was featured in the short film Bumbaclots in Negril (1999) alongside fellow High Times staffers.
References
- ↑ Wood, Paul (2006-12-28). "Chef Ra Enjoyed the High Life". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
- ↑ "36th Annual Ann Arbor Hash Bash" (Press release). Michigan NORML. 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ↑ Hager, Steve (2006-12-26). "RIP James 'Chef Ra' Wilson". High Times. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ↑ Chef Ra (2002-06-06). "Jah and the Hash Bash: walking the long road to herbal justice". High Times. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ↑ Pankoke, Jason (2006-12-29). "Chef Ra, 1950-2006". C-U Blogfidential: all about the Movies of Micro-Film Country. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
External links
- Chef Ra MySpace page
- Chef Ra speaking at 2006 Hash Bash
- Excerpt from Bumbaclots in Negril (1999), featuring Chef Ra
- Wood, Paul (2003-09-17). "Local Man's Recipes Give New Meaning to Potluck". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- Gorman, Kyle (2005-07-07). "High Times and Reggae Music with Chef Ra". Buzz magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
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In Memoriam: Chef Ra, including many photos from the WEFT archives.(Broken Link)