The District Goes Radical in the 1960s
Rubin and Abbie Hoffman
Jerry Rubin with Abbie Hoffman at a "Yippie vs. Yuppie" Debate, Sept. 21,1984 (Photo: Roger Ressmeyer, S.F. Chronicle, 1984)
Rubin, born in 1938, was a high-profile left-wing social activist and author during the 1960s and early 1970s. He led some of the first protests against the war in Vietnam, and co-founded, along with Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party or Yippies.
Rubin ran for mayor of Berkeley in 1967, but turned away from electoral politics after placing fourth. After his trial as one of the Chicago Seven (he was eventually acquitted of all charges) he became a successful businessman (an early investor in Apple). By the late 1970s he was a multimillionaire. In 1994, Rubin was hit and killed by a car while jaywalking in Los Angeles.