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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by Jai Narayan on August 18, 2004, at 7:31:04
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Born March 24, 1919 in Yonkers, New York, Lawrence Ferlinghetti earned a doctoral degree in poetry at the Sorbonne in Paris with a dissertation entitled 'The City as Symbol in Modern Poetry: In Search of a Metropolitan Tradition'. In fact he was about to become part of a metropolitan tradition himself, because after leaving Paris he moved to San Francisco, which was about to discover the Beat Generation.Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin started a magazine there called 'City Lights,' named after the Charlie Chaplin movie. He and Martin established their offices on the second floor of a building on Broadway and Columbus in North Beach. They decided to open a bookstore on the floor below as a side venture, naming it after the magazine. The City Lights Bookstore became one of the most famous bookstores in the world, and still stands proudly in its original location.
Doing double-time as a businessman and a poet, he began publishing original books by himself and others under the City Lights name, most notably the 'Pocket Poets Series.' The idea of Pocket Poets was to make poetry books easily affordable, and the small attractive paperback volumes are still a common sight today. Ferlinghetti published Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' as Pocket Poets Number Four, and was tried on obscenity charges for this. He was declared innocent, a landmark victory for free speech.
Ferlinghetti's own poems are simple and speak plainly, and they remain popular with a wide range of readers. In 1958 he published a volume with one of my all-time favorite titles, 'A Coney Island of the Mind' (and in 1997 published a follow-up volume named after a beach town in south Queens, not far from Brooklyn's Coney Island, 'A Far Rockaway of the Heart.')
In the early 60's Ferlinghetti owned a rustic cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur that became the focal point of Jack Kerouac's 1962 novel 'Big Sur.' Ferlinghetti appears in the book as the sensible Lorenzo Monsanto, who urges the drunken celebrity author based on Kerouac to go on a nature retreat to stop drinking, with terrible results.
Ferlinghetti was one of the more politically-minded of the Beats, and has been continually active on behalf of liberal causes. He attributes his pacifist consciousness partly to his wartime experiences: he had been sent to Nagasaki, Japan six weeks after the city was destroyed by the world's second atomic bomb.
Ferlinghetti is still active today as a poet and as the proprietor of City Lights. Two of his poems can be read here and here. I hope I won't seem politically incorrect for saying this, but after immersing myself in the writings of the guilt-obsessed asexual Jack Kerouac, the ridiculously horny Allen Ginsberg and the just plain sordid William S. Burroughs ... it's nice to read a few poems by a guy who can get excited about a little penny candy store under the El or a pretty woman letting a stocking drop to the floor.
Thought you might enjoy this about Ferlinghetti. He's still alive? My god I would love to visit him.Jai Narayan perusing her cuticles
Posted by Atticus on August 18, 2004, at 9:35:17
In reply to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, posted by Jai Narayan on August 18, 2004, at 7:31:04
OK, get those fingernails outta your mouth! ;) You're the bloody Empress of Atlantis, and at this rate the Emperor will have to spring for an emerald-encrusted pair of long formal gloves to hide those gnawed nails.
I have heard about this bookstore, but I had no idea that Ferlinghetti was still alive. Amazing! A few months ago, an exhibit of photographs of the Beats was showing in the Newark Museum, so I hopped the PATH under the Hudson to check it out. What makes these intimate and casual photos of the Beats so interesting to me is that Ginsberg scribbled little notations about what was going on in each picture, including the topics of conversation, across the base of each photograph. He just took them with a Kodak Brownie, I think. The main people featured are, predictably, the coterie of Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Burroughs, but a few shots show them and Ferlinghetti, along with lesser-known Beat writers, in front of Ferlinghetti's bookstore. It was really these spontaneous little dribs and drabs of written composition and commentary that drew me across the river into Jersey. Thanks for the background on Ferlinghetti. I didn't know much about him until now. I'm going to look up his books on Amazon and buy one or two, as I really like the "Coney Island of the Mind" piece. I think I could learn a lot from reading his work. Ta. Atticus, who -- Oi! Leave those poor fingernails alone, milady! -- has purchased, albeit with pilfered monies, a "Day of Peace and Harmony" for his good friend, Jai
Posted by Jai Narayan on August 18, 2004, at 19:49:12
In reply to Re: Lawrence Ferlinghetti » Jai Narayan, posted by Atticus on August 18, 2004, at 9:35:17
> You're the bloody Empress of Atlantis, and at this rate the Emperor will have to spring for an emerald-encrusted pair of long formal gloves to hide those gnawed nails.
****I would love red gloves....that go up the arm and make my limbs look zippy.
> I have heard about this bookstore, but I had no idea that Ferlinghetti was still alive.
***I'm almost scared to make contact with him because he was important all my life. His poetry was so pivotal in my emotions and trauma. If you do contact this book store please please send my love and caring to him. I am overwhelmed.
***Love the story about the photos. How very special that is. I am touched.
I don't know enough about Ginsberg.
I am so happy to know you and my artist soul has been so hungry for too long. You are like a tall cool drink of seltzer water with a neat slice of lime on a hot day when I just haven't had a moment to rest. I drink you to my fullest. Thank you my dear friend.
Jai Narayan the woman who is parched and is quenching her 20 year thirst
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