Lawrence Ferlinghetti — the poet, the publisher, the painter, the activist, the man who propelled the Beat Movement and brought City Lights to San Francisco — has died at the age of 101. According to his daughter, Julie Sasser, the lifelong provocateur lost his battle Monday with interstitial lung disease.

By Lydia Sviatoslavsky V. Vale sat down to talk stupid degrees, being a Henry Rollins fan, cognitive constipation, City Lights, Blue Cheer, how every word needs to earn its keep, the underbelly of hippies, survival of punk, how beatniks helped shaped the crazy journey…and just about everything else you’ve ever

Seeing the city through the colorful and chaotic lenses of famous dreamers like Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsburg.

Through sprawls of twisting novels, jolting poetry, and a touch of drugs, a clique of artists belonging to the late ‘50s crafted the Beat legacy. At the peak of their activity, general America viewed them as destructive, wicked, and super gay. Naturally, bookstores and classrooms now showcase their work around