orig. Lawrence Ferling
born March 24, 1919, Yonkers, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. poet.
Ferlinghetti attended Columbia University and the Sorbonne. A founder of the Beat movement in San Francisco in the mid 1950s, he established the City Lights bookstore, an early gathering place of the Beats. The publishing arm of City Lights was the first to print the Beats' poetry. His own poetry
lucid, witty, and composed to be read aloud
became popular in coffeehouses and on college campuses. His collections include Pictures of the Gone World (1955), the widely popular A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), and Endless Love (1981).