ForceUser
Explorer
Friday night, for the second year in a row, I had the opportunity to volunteer my time at the Border Voices poetry fair here in San Diego. Last year I got to meet and socialize with Ken Waldman (Alaska's "fiddlin' poet") and Sandra Cisneros, who were both awesome. This year, however, I got to meet and work with Mr. Ferlinghetti, and even cooler, go out with the Border Voices board and the poet afterwards and have beer and chips at the Shakespeare, a fun American-style faux-English pub.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Ferlinghetti was a pleasant conversationalist, and we chatted about our respective Navy careers while knocking back Bass ale and Guiness. To my left, Mr. Ferlinghetti. To my right, the front page editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. I'm just blown away by my good fortune and had to share. I was, like, hob-nobbing among the literary elite. Me. Wow.
For those who have no idea who I'm talking about, Laurence Ferlinghetti at 86 is one of the last surviving Beat poets, a contemporary of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder, among others. Through the City Lights bookstore and press he helped found in San Francisco he published his peers, spreading the Beat movement around the world. He's kind of like the Bono of the poetry set.
Anyhoo--I'm still jazzed and had to share. For those curious, despite his advanced age he's still got a razor-sharp memory and quiet wit. He's quite gracious and soft-spoken off-stage.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Ferlinghetti was a pleasant conversationalist, and we chatted about our respective Navy careers while knocking back Bass ale and Guiness. To my left, Mr. Ferlinghetti. To my right, the front page editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. I'm just blown away by my good fortune and had to share. I was, like, hob-nobbing among the literary elite. Me. Wow.
For those who have no idea who I'm talking about, Laurence Ferlinghetti at 86 is one of the last surviving Beat poets, a contemporary of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder, among others. Through the City Lights bookstore and press he helped found in San Francisco he published his peers, spreading the Beat movement around the world. He's kind of like the Bono of the poetry set.
Anyhoo--I'm still jazzed and had to share. For those curious, despite his advanced age he's still got a razor-sharp memory and quiet wit. He's quite gracious and soft-spoken off-stage.
