24 July—San Francisco, California

Folks in the Bay Area have been picking up Sam W.’s book at City Lights (much to the bard’s delight, and thanks to the seeding efforts of friend James), the landmark all-paperback general bookstore known internationally for its expert selection and for its commitment to free intellectual inquiry. Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights is one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States, a place where booklovers from across the country and around the world come to browse, read, and just soak in the ambiance of alternative culture’s only “Literary Landmark.” City Lights Publishers began with the Pocket Poets Series, through which Ferlinghetti aimed to create an international, dissident ferment—the world-famous store has now served for over half a century as a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals. (If you visit City Lights, check out the Zapatista Mural covering the Kerouac Alley side of the store).

A prominent voice of the wide-open poetry movement that began in the 1950s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who Sam acknowledges in his book as a significant influence) has written poetry, translation, fiction, theater, art criticism, film narration, and essays. Often concerned with politics and social issues, Ferlinghetti’s poetry countered the literary elite’s definition of art and the artist’s role in the world. Though imbued with the commonplace, his poetry cannot be simply described as polemic or personal protest, for it stands on his craftsmanship, thematics, and grounding in tradition. Read more about Ferlinghetti here.

Images: The City Lights façade on Columbus Avenue, San Francisco featuring provocative banners by the SF Print Collective; Ferlinghetti’s painting Unfinished Flag of the United States.