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Burning Man Torcher Calls It an 'Act of Love'

Festival has become 'too suburban,' says gonzo former lawyer

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2007 8:07 PM CDT

(Newser) – The San Francisco prankster who put an early torch to the 40-foot-tall Burning Man last week—earning himself a felony arson charge—tells the San Francisco Chronicle his stunt was a plea to put spontaneity back into the Nevada festival that culminates tonight. "This was not an act of vengeance. It was an act of love," says Paul Addis, who describes himself as a retired property-rights lawyer.

Addis describes Burning Man as "too suburban" and recalls fondly festivals from the '90s when "80% of the stuff around us burned—not stuff that wasn't supposed to." He also says he is currently touring the West Coast in a play called "Gonzo, a Brutal Chrysalis," about Hunter S. Thompson.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

An art car cruises the playa during the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev., on Friday morning, Aug. 31, 2007.(AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Associated Press)

In this booking photo provided by Pershing County Sheriff's Office, Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco is seen in this booking photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007 in Lovelock, Nev. Addis was arrested after... (Associated Press)

A Burning Man participant warms up by a fire while the Man glows in the background on the Black Rock Deset in Gerlach, Nev., on Monday morning, Aug. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Brad Horn) (Associated Press)

Darin Selby stands on skis while the Man sits in the background during the Burning Man festival in Gerlach, Nev., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007, in the Black Rock Desert. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Associated Press)

The sun rises over the Man in Gerlach, Nev., on Monday, Aug. 27, 2007, on opening day of the Burning Man festival. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Brad Horn) (Associated Press)

The sun rises near the Man in Gerlach, Nev., on opening day of the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert on Monday, Aug. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Brad Horn) (Associated Press)

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Burning Man Torcher Calls It an 'Act of Love'