Poet, cultivator of brilliance, and guide to American art. What a shining light to the American literary world.
Founder of San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore I discovered many beat poets through his advice...I used to busk on the steps of the Bank of America across the street from the book store 3 days out of every month...spent all my tips on books from City Lights.....he was the foundation of the beat poets and probably spread more of their literature around than most publishing companies...he was a decent poet but through him I discovered Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, William Burroughs and many other poets...great memories...he was a true promoter of poetry of the highest degree..and he wasn't a snob...he did not want to be called a "beat" poet....I think that was too New York for him...
Can't believe Rush Limbaugh got more responses and posts than Ferlinghetti!......guess bookstores and poetry aren't big draws around here? Lawrence bucked censorship, promoted alternative literature to what you'd find at the library...bought my first Zap comics there....he championed gay authors and all the really risk taking authors like Henry Miller and Anais Nin...I think he was a good representative for the times of San Francisco....I loved his bookstore...spent many hours browsing there
“Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them. Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced, and whose bigots haunt the airwaves. Pity the nation that raises not its voice, except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture. Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own. Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed. Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed away. My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.” ― Lawrence Ferlinghetti
“The art has to make it on its own, without explanations, and it’s the same for poetry. If the poem or the painting has to be explained, then it’s a failure in communication.” ― Lawrence Ferlinghetti
@SlyPokerDog can you merge the one I made with this one...I missed this yesterday and this thread is a day earlier than mine.....thanks...I only learned of his passing this morning
