“Suppose
we suddenly
wake up and see
that what we thought
to be this and that,
ain't this and that
at all?”
Jack Kerouac,
The Dharma Bums
 |
| Alley outside is the link between Chinatown & Italian neighborhood. Full of art! [and tourists!] |
“I am waiting
for the meek to be blessed
and inherit the earth...
without taxes”
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
[Still going strong in his 90's!]
 |
| Sign reads: "Poet For Hire" |
“The Beats and the Pranksters showed us
different ways of opting out of society.
They were both the personification of
countercultural movements. The Beats
were trying to change literature,
and the Pranksters were trying to
change the people and the country.
Kesey, in fact, was his own
cultural revolution, striving
to keep the upbeat,
freedom-loving spirit
of America alive.”
Sterling Lord,
Lord of Publishing: A Memoir
[///]
" Founded in 1953 by
poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti
and Peter D. Martin, City Lights
was our nation's
first all-paperback bookstore.
This great independent bookstore
hosted Allen Ginsburg
and other famous Beat Poets
for their earliest readings.
Visitors from across the country
and around the world come every day
to browse, read, and just soak in
the ambiance of alternative culture's
only "Literary Landmark." "
Back in the early 1960's tour buses
showed tourists the "beatniks" by
pulling up in front of City Lights!
Today, the Beats' legacy of
anti-authoritarian politics and
insurgent thinking continues to
be a strong influence in the store."
" The City Lights masthead says
A Literary Meetingplace since 1953,
and this concept includes publishing books
as well as selling them.
In 1955, Ferlinghetti launched
City Lights Publishers with the now-famous
Pocket Poets Series; Today, City Lights has
well over two hundred titles in print, with
a dozen new titles being published each year.
The press is known and respected for
its commitment to innovative and
progressive ideas, and its resistance to forces
of conservatism and censorship.
All City Lights Publications
that are currently available are proudly
featured in the bookstore and
on their website as well.
With this bookstore-publisher combination,
"it is as if," says Ferlinghetti,
"the public were being invited, in person
and in books, to participate in that
'great conversation' between authors of all ages,
ancient and modern." City Lights has become
world-famous, but it has retained
an intimate, casual, anarchic charm.
It's a completely unique
San Francisco experience, and
a must for anyone who
appreciates good books. "
From the Webpage
Thank YOU
for joining us
today!
May you feel
liberated from the
same old arguments
into a realm of
possibility, and
personal creativity!
Fondly, cloudia
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