Cover story

Celebrating the poet and bookseller who embodied S.F.’s soul

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s place in San Francisco literary history.

When Lawrence Ferlinghetti died in February, for some it felt like the poet and City Lights Booksellers & Publishers cofounder took a piece of San Francisco with him. Like the store, Ferlinghetti was a literary landmark, his presence in North Beach and around the city as much a given as the fog or cable car bells. While his death at age 101 was perhaps not surprising, the loss came with a kind of shock that this living institution would no longer be here. In his century of life, Ferlinghetti was many things: San Francisco’s poet laureate, a book merchant, an activist, a visual artist and a neighbor. Memories shared by the community with The Chronicle and on social media reflect those multitudes. Over these pages we present a few of those tributes celebrating Ferlinghetti’s place in the city and his lasting impact on our culture. Please join The Chronicle at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, for a multimedia evening of poetry, song, art and literature honoring his life and words. Among those participating: poets Tongo EisenMartin and Jack Hirschman, author Gary Kamiya, performer Mauro Aprile Zanetti, and musicians Lane Murchison, Allison Lovejoy and the Quivering Fringe quartet. The event is free. To register, go to bit.ly/ferlinghetti chrontribute.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle 2018

Chris Felver / Getty Images 1982 Lawrence Ferlinghetti stands in a window overlooking his City Lights bookstore in San Francisco in 1982. The poet, artist and publisher died Feb. 22 at 101.