Main menu  Profiles in Manlitude: Jack Parsons  Jack Parsons --
Freedom is a Double-Edged SwordEvery day that your grandpa woke
up and tried to decide between corn flakes or eggs for
breakfast, Jack Parsons was struggling with, "Should I make
today's miracle in science…or magic?" Looking at that book
cover, you know you've got yourself a perfect example of
historical manlitude. The man wrote a tome with both "Freedom"
and "Sword" in the title, and when dressing for the cover shoot,
decided a pipe was more important than a shirt.   The occult
rocket scientist had a life that made pulp novelists stop typing
for a moment and shake their heads in disbelief. He was born
Marvel Whiteside Parsons, but changed his name so that mortal
men didn't suspect his alien heritage. While still a senior in
high school, he took a job at The Hercules Powder Company, which
sounds like either a barely closeted men's club or the producers
of a hilariously dangerous skin cream back when all drugs were
legal.  Parsons went to college,