It has been 50 years since Ferlinghetti's classic book A Coney Island of the Mind was released! Simply amazing and it's just held up so well over the years. It remains one of my all-time favorite books of poetry -- I just dig it. :-)

Here's a story (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/08/revisiting_coney_island_of_the...) that celebrates this accomplishment. I was able to get the info and link from Jilly Dybka's Poetry Hut Blog (http://www.poetryhut.com/wordpress/). Jilly puts together regular posts of poetry-related links. You should check it out.

Anyway, one of the great moments of my life came when I actually got to meet Lawrence Ferlinghetti! It was on my first trip to San Francisco, back in Jaanuary 1994. I wandered, alone, into his City Lights Bookstore and went upstairs to the poetry section. Bear in mind, he was supposed to be hanging out at home, painting, most of the time in those days. Perhaps semi-retired from the bookstore? Anyway, there was an office by the poetry section, and the door was partially open. I peeked inside, and there he was! I was brazen enough to wander in, disturb him, and introduce myself. He was quite gracious, and we talked for a little while, about poetry, writing, and my intent to work on a PhD regarding San Francisco poets. He even suggested the program at UC Santa Cruz to me. Heh. My only regret is, I did not have a camera on me, and I don't have a photo to commenorate that event. Pity, eh? Nonetheless, one of my highlights....

[For some reason, when I previewed this entry, it is showing the date, December 31, 1969. Um, why? This is 2008, and I've written this post on August 20. Additionally, Ferlinghetti's book appeared in the 1950s, so I have no idea what 1969 is referencing here. Sorry if this messes something up....]