Johnny Appleseed of the Beat turns 79

(CNN) -- If Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs provided the seeds for the Beat Generation, then Lawrence Ferlinghetti was the midwife. He created a haven for Beat writers and helped sprinkle the nation with insurgence. Author, poet and City Lights book store co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti turned 79 Friday.

Ferlinghetti came to San Francisco in 1953 and literally set up shop on the corner of Columbus Avenue along with Peter D. Martin. They launched a magazine called "City Lights", dedicated to capturing the spirit of the "anti-authoritarian" culture emerging in the Bay area.

Martin and Ferlinghetti decided to expand their efforts to selling and publishing cutting edge books. City Lights Books was the first paperback store in the United States and stocked unusual titles on jumbled shelves. It also gave Beat writers, such as Kerouac and Ginsberg, the chance to get their work published.

When Ferlinghetti published Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", he found himself in the middle of an obscenity suit. Due to the poem's combustible narrative, Ferlinghetti was tried for printing and selling obscene and indecent writings. He was found innocent of all charges.

A vibrant writer himself, Ferlinghetti's most notable works are "Pictures of the Gone World" and a volume of verse, "A Coney Island of the Mind". The author called the latter "a poetry seizure" and published a sequel more than years later called, "A Far Rockaway of the Heart."

Ferlinghetti still lives in San Francisco and can be found in City Lights Books most mornings.

Excerpt of 'Publishers Weekly' review
of "A Far Rockaway of the Heart"

"These 101 numbered poems, most occupying a single
page, burn through modern America's absurdities and
unrepentant historical revision in a glorious rant against
mediocrity, greed, capitalism and boring poetry, with
serious riffs on painting and love."

BIO	SELECTED WORKS
Born: March 24, 1919 in Yonkers, New York Family: Passed between family members and then to an orphanage, finally ending up with his great aunt in Bronxville, New York Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Received masters Columbia University after WW II Got doctoral degree in poetry at the Sorbonne in Paris Military: Enlisted in Navy and served in WWII	"Pictures of the Gone World" 1955 "A Coney Island of the Mind" 1958 "Starting from San Francisco" 1961 "Routines" 1964 "An Eye on the World: Selected Poems" 1967 "Tyrannus Nix?" 1969 "The Mexican Night" 1970 "Back Roads to Far Places" 1971 "Who Are We Now?" 1976 "Northwest Ecolog" 1978 "Endless Life: Selected Poems" 1981

Related stories:

• 'Prophet of 1960s' Allen Ginsberg dead at 70 - April 5, 1997
• Remembering Jack Kerouac

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• City Lights Booksellers and Publishers
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti
• Poetry Daily: A Far Rockaway of the Heart
• Ferlinghetti poem tribute to Ginsberg

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.