Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born March 24, 1919) is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. Author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and film narration, he is best known for A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), a collection of poems that has been translated into nine languages, with sales of over one million copies.
Read more about Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Early Life, World War II, Columbia University & The Sorbonne, San Francisco — City Lights Books, The Howl Trial, The Beats, Poetry, Political Engagement, Painting, Jack Kerouac Alley, Awards, In Pop Culture, Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words lawrence and/or ferlinghetti:
“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—Mighty Casey has struck
out.”
—Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1863–1940)
“freeways fifty lanes wide
on a concrete continent
spaced with bland billboards
illustrating imbecile illusions of happiness”
—Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b. 1919)