born May 8, 1930, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.
U.S. poet.
Snyder worked as a forest ranger, logger, and seaman and studied Zen Buddhism in Japan (1958–66). His poetry, early identified with the Beat movement , is rooted in ancient, natural, and mythic experience. It initially contained images drawn from his outdoor work in the Pacific Northwest and later reflected his interest in Eastern philosophies. His volumes include Turtle Island (1974, Pulitzer Prize) and Mountains and Rivers Without End (1996). From the late 1960s he has been an important spokesman for communal living and ecological activism.