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Two Poems: North Beach Dark & Light
North Beach – Dark This magnificent citystands as beautiful as everskies as clear as freshly wiped glassstreets empty like desert highwaysThere is uncertainty in the airfear on people’s facescaution concernWalking Grant Ave I see people I’ve known for yearsrecognizing their eyes above maskswe talk ten feet apartWe check in with each othernervous laughterlooks of resignationDogs […]
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Interview with V. Vale
V. Vale has been documenting counterculture for over 40 years, and is something of a legend in it himself. We sat down with the publisher of seminal SF punk zine ‘Search & Destroy’ and RE/Search Publications to pick his brain about the Beat Generation and its influences, the French connection, Philip Lamantia, and why it’s […]
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The North Beach of the Beat Generation is in Grave Danger
When Beat Generation fans visit San Francisco there are five places everyone wants to go to: City Lights Bookstore, Vesuvio Cafe, Caffe Trieste, Specs, and The Beat Museum. All five of us have now been closed for a month. All of our businesses are on the line. There is a strong possibility one or more […]
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Interview with Ed Hardy
Tattoo legend Don Ed Hardy discusses his Beat Generation influences, why San Francisco continues to be a mecca for creative people, and more.
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Interview with Barry Gifford
Barry Gifford is the consummate storyteller: novelist, poet, biographer, and screenwriter. Beat Generation fans know Barry, with Lawrence Lee, as the author of 'Jack's Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac', published in 1978. We caught up with Barry for his take on the Beat Generation 35 years after Jack's Book came out.
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How Allen Ginsberg Turned The Tables on CNN
At the 1994 NYU Beat Generation Conference, Allen Ginsberg asserted to a CNN reporter that he was still being censored to that very day. "But that was all in the 1950s. Surely you're not being censored today, in 1994?"
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Ford v Ferrari: “…he’s a beatnik.”
The first time we met Josh Lucas was when he was playing Neal Cassady in Michael Polish’s 2013 movie Big Sur – the movie based on Jack Kerouac’s novel. Last night I had the pleasure of watching Ford v Ferrari which was nominated for best picture at the 2019 Academy Awards. It’s the ultimate corporation […]
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Interview with Brenda Knight
Writer, historian, and editor of Women of the Beat Generation discusses her introduction to the Beats, her journey to San Francisco, and some of the personalities she's met along the way.
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“We’re from Finland!”
On the continuing importance of the Beat Generation: an interview with some visitors to the Beat Museum from Finland.
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Benny Bufano, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Bob Kaufman
The story Benny Bufano, and how his statue of Saint Francis inspired Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Bob Kaufman.
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Making it Through 2021
Despite our doors being closed since March 13th, the Beat Museum was able to survive 2020 thanks to the continuing support of Beat readers around the world. Your generosity is crucial in allowing us to continue preserving the history and materials from this pivotal movement, and provide a place to experience these stories.