Regular Daily Beat readers know that acclaimed poet and environmentalist Gary Snyder was immortalized in Jack Kerouac's best novel*, The Dharma Bums, as Japhy** Ryder (he also appears once as Gary, an editing error). He appeared as Jarry Wagner in Desolation Angels and Big Sur, and as himself in Vanity of Duluoz.
Snyder turns 92 today! He is the only reader left alive from the famous 1955 Six Gallery poetry reading, and he's also one of a small number of close friends of Kerouac who are still around.
Click HERE for a brief bio and some of his poetry.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Snyder. And many more....
*Regular readers likewise know that I am just trolling them by calling The Dharma Bums Jack's best novel. It is, indeed, my favorite, but I would hesitate to argue that it's his best work.
**JAPHY is our RV's license plate.
2 comments:
Thank you for reminding me that today is Gary Snyder's birthday. We will raise our wine glasses tonight in his honor. I will always be grateful that I got to hear him read at the University of Colorado in Boulder. I think I may have told you this already, but I so love to repeat it: I took my parents to hear him read. It was quite an evening. Happy Birthday, Mr. Snyder.
Cheers to you and yours and to Gary!
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