Today the academic world--open to Jews, women, and other previously excluded groups--has been completely revamped. Or has it? Despite the changes, is it possible the institution still promotes the mediocre and demotes the extraordinary? The life and work of Paul Piccone bear on this question--and others. Piccone, who died of cancer in 2004 at 64, was a top-notch scholar, writer, and editor. Piccone and the university had parted ways long before his death. In 1987, Washington University in St. Louis turned him down for tenure. He appealed the tenure decision and lost. Afterward, Piccone found occasional teaching positions but nothing secure or continuous. Finally he gave up and moved to New York City with the journal he had founded, "Telos." Piccone's path may be unique in American life and letters. Without family wealth, popular publications, or institutional backing, he remained a productive scholar who published a high-octane theoretical journal with no academic or foundation support for more than 30 years. This article describes the life of Paul Piccone, an example of an individual who burned career bridges in academe--and built intellectual ones with the journal "Telos."