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The Beat Museum Goes International
Another first for The Beat Museum! Six months ago we were contacted by representatives of the government of Germany about participating in a major museum exhibition in the city of Bonn. We knew The Beats would be in good company. The exhibition is called CALIFORNIA DREAMS: San Francisco – A Portrait – and it is […]
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The Wire: The Go-To Destination for All Things Beat Generation
The Beat Museum in San Francisco houses items that help understand the seminal influence that Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Peter Orlovsky and others had. Sidharth Bhatia, writing for India’s The Wire, visits the Beat Museum in this great article: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…” The poet Allen Ginsberg first […]
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The Beat Museum’s Impending Seismic Retrofit
What’s happening? The building we’ve called home for the last 12 years will soon be undergoing a City-mandated seismic retrofit, which will force the Beat Museum to close for about 6 months. Read more » Are you closed now? No. At this time we remain open. We haven’t been given a date when construction will […]
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Video: “Ferlinghetti: His Life and His Work” Panel Discussion
Video by Tate Swindell Lawrence Ferlinghetti, legendary poet, painter, and cofounder of the City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, celebrated his 100th birthday on March 24th, 2019. The Beat Museum hosted a panel discussion of Ferlinghetti’s life and work with SF Poet Laureate emeritus Jack Hirschman; poet and Ferlinghetti biographer Neeli Cherkovski; poet and artist […]
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Hunter S. Thompson ”Jack Kerouac was a great influence on me.”
I never would have become a writer were it not for On the Road. Hunter S. Thompson NYU – May 21, 1994 by Jerry Cimino Hunter S. Thompson started reading Jack Kerouac in 1958. I saw Hunter speak on a few occasions. One time on stage at NYU in 1994 at a Beat Generation Conference […]
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Friends and Family Remember Al Hinkle
On Sunday, January 27th, friends and family of the late Al Hinkle gathered in San Jose, California to remember “The Last Man Standing.” Al’s claim to fame in the world of the Beat Generation was his inspiration for the character “Big Ed Dunkel” in Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel On the Road, but to family and […]
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Al Hinkle: Last Man Standing Passes Away at 92
by Jerry Cimino Al Hinkle, a central and beloved personality of the Beat Generation, passed away on December 26, 2018. He was 92 years old. Al was born on September 4, 1926. He grew up in Denver and was a childhood friend of Neal Cassady. When they were 12 years old, Al and Neal attended […]
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Jack Kerouac Postcard
For 45 years, Nick Triglia has been safeguarding a postcard sent by Jack Kerouac to Walter Gutman at Stearns & Company in New York City.
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North Beach Now Podcast:
The Beat Museum Part 1'North Beach Now' is a new podcast, produced by Blair Helsing at RoR Studio on Telegraph Hill, and featuring all things North Beach.
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An Excerpt from the Joan Anderson Letter – Journal of Alta California
To say we’ve been eager to finally read the heretofore unpublished portions of the Joan Anderson Letter would be a profoundly absurd understatement. Yet, while the complete text of Neal Cassady’s legendary letter to Jack Kerouac has yet to be made available to the public, you can read this exclusive excerpt from the Joan Anderson […]
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Thanks to Everyone Who Attended ruthFest!
We'd like to thank everyone who joined us on Saturday for ruthFest: Celebrating ruth weiss at 90, and the Women of the Beat Generation.