About
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) was a major figure of the Beat Generation and American counterculture. After studying at the University of North Carolina, Columbia, and the Sorbonne, he settled in San Francisco, where he founded City Lights Bookstore in 1953, the first all-paperback bookstore in the United States, and later its publishing arm. In 1956, he published Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl,' whose obscenity trial ended in acquittal, a landmark for freedom of expression. His own collection 'A Coney Island of the Mind' (1958) was a phenomenal success. An engaged poet, he was named San Francisco's first Poet Laureate in 1998 and received numerous honors, including the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award in 2005.
* 1919-03-24 — † 2021-02-22
Major works
- Pictures of the Gone World (1955)poetry
- A Coney Island of the Mind (1958)poetry
- Her (1960)novel
- Love in the Days of Rage (2001)novel
- Little Boy (2019)novel
Key milestones
- 1953Co-founded City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, the first all-paperback bookstore in the United States.
- 1957Acquitted in the obscenity trial related to the publication of Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl'.
- 1998Named first Poet Laureate of San Francisco.
Themes
Freedom of expressionAnti-warUrban lifeCountercultureSpirituality
Sources: poetryfoundation.org · poets.org · aaa.si.edu