Whenever visiting the City by the Bay, I make a pilgrimage to San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore. For me, being here is all about paying homage to the Beatniks, that sparked the San Francisco Literary Renaissance in the 50’s. This creative adventure always recharges me as a writer and poet.
When first visiting years ago, my focus was the Beatnik poetry icons. Now, I’m here to explore their more subtle influence on travel writing, ready to recount the legacies of Kerouac & others On the Road. I question what do the contemporary Travel Bloggers or “digital nomads” and the Beatniks in the 50’s have in common and how do they compare? Let’s ponder that.
Coming here is like peeling away the layers of an onion, with each time discovering a deeper find. Today, I take a literary tour and ask these questions. “What would Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg think of today’s travel bloggers/vloggers or digital nomads? How would Gary Snyder feel about my nature or Taoist poetry? What would it be like to see Lawrence Ferlinghetti standing here in the sea of books?
I imagine going back in time, observing these literary geniuses making history. Did they have any idea they were blazing new trails for poets, travelers, mystics, the 60’s hippies, musicians, progressives, or New Ager’s? Overall, it’s mind-boggling to consider all the inspiration that proliferated from one of America’s first independent bookstores in San Francisco’s North Beach.
History of City Lights Bookstore
Here is an abbreviated historical account of City Lights Bookstore and the Beatniks of the 50’s. First, consider the postwar 50’s was a time of conservative values and conformity. From this “Leave it to Beaver” Era, the new counterculture wave of the Beatniks spawned from a core group of mostly male artists, such as, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gary Synder, Neal Cassidy and more.
The fact that there were no women among these icons shows how far we have come in 60 years. These hipsters spawned a whole new Beat Generation with their writing and rebellion against the conforming ways. The masthead at City Lights Bookstore says, A Literary Meetingplace Since 1953.
Beatnik’s Literary Renaissance of the 50’s
The Beatniks traveled back and forth between New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach area. They explored their revolution through poetry, jazz, drugs, alcohol, sex and On the Road. City Lights Bookstore was the Beatniks’ San Francisco headquarters. It was established in 1955 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who recently died at 101 years old.
Analogous to the Parisian Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, City Lights also has its own in-house publisher. Plus, it was the nation’s first all paperback bookstore later expanded to include hardbacks on all subjects from many publishers. Its press has become renowned for progressive and innovative literature. Ferlinghetti initially was also known for the now famous “Pocket Poet Series.”
When City Lights attempted to publish Allen Ginsberg’s epic poetry book, Howl and Other Poems, history was about to be made. Authorities arrested Ferlinghetti, claiming that Howl was obscene. However, later they acquitted (supported by ACLU) Ferlinghetti from a major landmark case upholding the first amendment.
Furthermore, this ordeal gave much attention to City Lights and its Literary Renaissance. Plus, Ferlinghetti went on to publish more of the Beatniks’ literature and other controversial, progressive subjects. Then the literary tsunami began. A year later, Kerouac published On the Road and 13 other novels, then others published included William Burrough’s surreal Naked Lunch, Gary Snyder & Michael McClure’s Beat poetry, and on and on….
Jack Kerouac Alley was created in 2007 next to City Lights Bookstore
In 2007, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s proposal for Jack Kerouac Alley next to his bookstore came to fruition. It’s now a pedestrian alleyway connecting Chinatown and North Beach Italian Districts, flanked by City Lights Bookstore and a Jazz Club, where Jack Kerouac frequently hung out.
This alleyway displays colorful murals and engraved quotes on the ground from literary giants, such as, John Steinbeck, Maya Angelo and of course, Jack Kerouac.
What are 3 Things the Travel Digital Nomads and the 50’s Beatniks have in common?
First, the obvious is a minimalist lifestyle regarding possessions. They both live and travel light, striving for wealth that brings experience not material things. Overall, they live a transient life that is there own era’s version of the bohemian lifestyle, rebelling against the mainstream.
Second, the writing and creative expression, however, it comes from a different ink well. Writing for the Beatniks was their core from which they wrote their way out to discover their truth through raw experiences in the ordinary life in the jazz clubs, city alleyways, mountaintops and on the road.
In comparison, the Travel Bloggers/Digital Nomad’s impetus is their desire for freedom and experience, to explore the more exotic or foreign, and share online journals about these journeys. However, for many Travel Bloggers or Vloggers, the writing is secondary to the photography, experiences and videos.
Thirdly, both the Beatniks and Travel Bloggers/Digital Nomads are the young voices paving the way for the new generation. The Beatniks blew open the 50’s hermetically sealed lid with creativity, rebellion, spirituality and travel for the hippies in the 60’s to carry trends forward. The Millenials grew up with computers and cell phones and are rethinking how we live. Is the “American dream” with the white picket fence and heavy materialism still pertinent? Travel bloggers/Vloggers became the clarion call for the post Co-vid world, with technology allowing us all to be more transient and live or work as a digital nomads if we choose.
In other words, both the youthful screams of the Beatniks and Travel Bloggers or Digital Nomads became the counterculture voices for change.
They both blazed new trails for others to follow into a transformed mainstream. Twenty years ago, who would have predicted that many of the modern workforce would be able to work and live from where ever they choose with the computer as the office or store? Plus, more and more people are sharing their stories through social media and blogs/vlogs as a hobby or profession.
What would Jack Kerouac think of all these selfies on Social Media and Travel Blogging?
Something tells me Jack Kerouac’s response to selfies would be something along the lines of a Emily Dickinson quote: “How public like a frog.” Most of Jack’s writing focused on main characters, while he remained in the background as the observer. He provides a stream-of-consciousness, internal narrative on his relationships with the protagonists, for example, Dean Moriarty in On the Road and Japhy Ryder in The Dharma Bums. Listening to the interviews of those that knew the Beatniks, in retrospect, they had no intention of being famous. They were just artists exploring their limits.
In the 50’s there was no AA or facilities to assist addicts. Unfortunately, for Jack Kerouac this was their reality. He died as an alcoholic drinking himself to death in 1969. Two iconic Beatniks still with us are Gary Snyder and Michael McClure. Thankfully, the Beat goes on…
The Heart & Soul of being an Artist before the Information Age
As a Generation X’er, I can more easily imagine their life without the technology, than the Millennials that grew up with computers. What a difference 60 years has made to how people relate and create. Not to discredit where we are now. However, communication with others was a more direct experience before the Digital Age, cultivating more empathy, compassion and reading social cues in person.
Additionally, travel bloggers/vloggers need to consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the over-stimulation of the Information Age and infinite competition, since anyone can take a step out into the arena of the internet. Sometimes these technical parameters disrupt the Muse from creative expression and dilute the writing. However, our digital world gives free rein for anyone to self-publish and build a brand through their own website, YouTube channel or Amazon, just to name a few.
The legend goes that Kerouac wrote On the Road in less than 3 weeks on a 120-foot scroll of paper.
Jack wrote spontaneously in a stream-of consciousness style without looking back, without engaging the editor or critic. (However, he did outline this book beforehand and contemplate its content in journals for years) It was an honest expression, raw and improvised like the jazz he worshiped.
Maybe, some of that inspiration came from the archaic equipment of a manual typewriter. Imagine how difficult it would have been to edit? Before our modern amenities, editing may have derailed the Muse and creative process more. This may have prompted writers, such as, Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg to just bypass editor mode and write spontaneously from the unconscious core.
Eclipsing this personal intimacy most likely leaves writers with a more limited perspective on human nature for character development.
Also, I wonder if modern short cuts in communication negatively affect many writers in their character development. Even thinking back to the 90’s and going to a coffee shop in Seattle where I went to read, write and connect with other people. Now, we all know the reality. When you walk into a Café or anywhere, really, everyone is drooping their head down to look at their phone or computer. They avoid eye contact and miss the direct interpersonal relationship with others. Eclipsing this intimacy in person most likely leaves writers with a more limited perspective on human nature for character development.
When I contemplate the Beatniks and their prolific creative output, I perceive them as a collective synergy. This community of artists came together to inspire and challenge each other to a higher level and transcend the Bourgeoisie. Overall, this transformation came through the intimate human dynamic of directly relating between themselves. Can the digital world numb connections with people and nature? Are people unconsciously reaching for WIFI to fill the human relational and nature void? Have we already reached the vicious circle or point of no return within the internet’s bloodless matrix?
City Lights Bookstore: My Happy Place for Poetic Inspiration
Going there now is such an inspiration. I spent a couple hours just reveling in the sea of books and looking at pictures and imagining how this was 60 years ago. The third floor is all poetry books, offering a creative sanctuary for poets. I felt the legends come alive, inspiring me to get back to reading books and writing poetry. Lastly, I bought some Gary Snyder poetry books and went outside into the Kerouac Alleyway. Since being there, I revisited their literature and watched old videos.
One of my favorite Beat videos on YouTube is Jack Kerouac on the Steve Allen Show in 1959. Here, he embodies the Beat Generation and reads excerpts from On the Road to Jazz, performing his prose in a poetic jazz ensemble with Steve Allen’s piano. Now, I intimately experience their literature as even more raw and spontaneous, than I did 20 years ago. There’s an instinctive style that laughs off airy platitudes. It’s a rebellion that authentically roars from the heart’s jungle.
A Walk in Kerouac Alley
Overall, I enjoyed my time in the alleyway, looking at the murals and reading the inspiring quotes engraved on the ground. Midway in the alley, there’s a quote from Kerouac, engraved in a gold spiral on the ground: “The air was soft, the stars so fine. The promise of every cobbled alley, so great…” Thanks Jack and all the rest of the Beatniks for the inspiration and myth on the essence of being a writer and traveler before the Digital Age.
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