City Lights at 50

The Washington Post has a profile of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the founder of San Francisco's influential City Lights bookstore, which turns 50 this year. Ferlinghetti not only helped create a particularly strong poetic sensibility (he published "Howl" and staged famous readings), he is also a basically an unregenerate moron when it comes to almost everything, whether we're talking politics, the state of publishing, or his own work. Which is not in any way to undercut his importance.

Reason's Tim Cavanaugh gave a Bronx cheer to the on the Coney Island of the Mind author a while back, riffing off Ferlinghetti's lamentable antiwar poem, "Speak Out." And here is Reason's appreciation of the Beats (from whom, pro forma, Ferlinghetti distances himself) as important cultural entrepreneurs.

Comments

[tim]

Tourists don't usually come to Caffe Trieste? In yer dreams, Larry!

[quaker120]

I think it's worth mentioning that, thanks to City Lights, Ferlinghetti has NEVER accepted government grant money, university money (i.e., a "visiting professorship"), foundation money, or any other subsidy for his art, his press, or his store. He is perhaps the Republic's only self-sufficient poet/publisher.

So, "regenerate moron" or not, at least he's a moron on his own nickel & not the taxpayer's.

[s.m. koppelman]

I agree that Ferlinghetti's take on world affairs these days is dodgy, and that he hasn't written much in the way of worthwhile poetry in the last twenty-odd years, but why such nastines, Nick? Did he make a pass at your mom? Did he key your car or something?

Frank Zappa was a similarly DIY boho-entrepreneur, and his politics were comparably idiotic and well-intentioned, but I get a strange feeling he doesn't make veins pop out of your forehead quite the way Ferlinghetti does.