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 ferlinghetti, lawrence and/or ferlinghetti:
“Constantly risking absurdity
and death
whenever he performs
above the heads
of his audience
the poet like an acrobat
climbs on rime
to a high wire of his own making.”
—Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b. 1919)
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“Beauty stands and waits
with gravity
to start her death-defying leap”
—Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b. 1919)