Frank R. Wallace

Frank R. Wallace
Born Wallace Ward
1932
Died January 26, 2006
Nationality American
Education University of Iowa (doctorate)
Organization Integrated Management Associates
Known for Social and political writer, philosopher, mail-order entrepreneur
Movement Neo-Tech

Frank R. Wallace (1932–2006), born Wallace Ward, was an American author, publisher and mail-order magnate.[1] He is known as the originator of the philosophy of Neo-Tech (also referred to as "Neotech" or "Neothink"). He was convicted of various federal tax crimes in the 1990s.

Education and career

Wallace Ward graduated from Colby College in 1954. In 1957 he earned his doctorate in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry from the State University of Iowa. He then worked for nine years as a research chemist for DuPont. He then turned to philosophy and started I & O Publishing in 1968 and served as president, publisher, and editor, writing books and articles under various pen names.[2] One of his books was about how to win at poker.[3]

Publishing company

Wallace owned the Integrated Management Associates publishing company, a spin-off of I & O that publishes books and articles by various writers (including himself) concerning Neo-Tech.

Australian Fair Trading Minister Margaret Keech criticized Neo-Tech as a group of "con-artists", for claiming to select "a small handful of 'special' individuals" to receive "secret wisdom of ages", and then asking the individuals to pay money to obtain these "secrets".[4] Tony Levene of The Guardian noted the company was the subject of a 2000 ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority of the UK, in which the Authority claimed Neo-Tech had "not provided evidence, other than anecdotal, to show the guaranteed earnings, improvements to health, and other benefits ... had been, or could be, attained".[5]

Neo-Tech philosophy

Wallace's Neo-Tech philosophy is presented as an offshoot of Objectivist philosophy.[6]

Comic book author Alan Grant wrote a four-part Anarky miniseries in 1997, and an eight-part ongoing series in 1999, for DC Comics based on Wallace's Neo-Tech philosophy. Grant explained: "I felt he [Anarky] was the perfect character [to express the Neo-Tech philosophy] because he's human, he has no special powers, the only power he's got is the power of his own rational consciousness."[7] Illustrator and Anarky co-creator Norm Breyfogle viewed Neo-Tech as a "modernized" interpretation of Objectivism.[8]

The "fully integrated Honesty" oath

On March 29, 1990, Wallace was indicted on three counts of tax evasion and three counts of willful failure to timely file Federal income tax returns or pay taxes. At his trial, Wallace proposed an alternative oath written by him, to be used before testifying, using the phrase "fully integrated Honesty." The court denied his request, insisting on a "standard oath." The court would not allow Ward to testify in his defense unless he took the standard oath.

Ward made an opening statement at the trial in February 1991, and cross-examined government witnesses. Ward also wanted to testify in his own defense, and offered to take both his own oath and the oath prescribed by the U.S. District Court. The District Court refused to allow Ward to testify unless he used only the oath prescribed by the Court, which Ward declined to do. He was convicted on all charges. He appealed, in part on the ground that the District Court had violated his freedom of religion, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Ward’s conviction. The Court of Appeals held that by refusing to allow Ward to testify unless he used only the oath prescribed by the District Court, the District Court had indeed violated Ward's First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

Ward used his own wording for the oath in a re-trial. In the re-trial in 1993, a jury found Ward guilty of tax evasion for years 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Death

On January 26, 2006 while Wallace was jogging in Henderson, Nevada, he was struck and killed by a car. He was 73 years old.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Daily News of Los Angeles (August 20, 1992). "Tax-Evasion Conviction Reversed"; accessed February 13, 2014.
  2. ↑ Colby Magazine, Summer 2006, Vol 95, No 2
  3. ↑ Wallace, Frank (1980). A guaranteed income for life by using the advanced concepts of poker. Amazon.com: Warner Books. p. 359. ISBN 978-0446974554.
  4. ↑ (2005). 'Mystical' letter scam warning. The Age Online; accessed February 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ Levene, Tony (2005). Capital Letters: Secret society rubbish is fit only for the bin. The Guardian; accessed February 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ From Objectivism to Neo-Tech and Back. Article written in critical key, but with a long explanation of Neo-Tech philosophy; accessed February 13, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Holy Penis Collapsor Batman! DC Publishes The First Zonpower Comic Book!?!?!" at the Wayback Machine (archived February 18, 1998). gocomics.com. Accessed February 18, 1998
  8. ↑ Best, Daniel (2003). "Norm Breyfogle @ Adelaide Comics and Books". Adelaide Comics and Books. ACAB Publishing. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  9. ↑ Henderson man accident victim, Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 28, 2006.

External links

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