Michael McClure was a legendary poet who helped launch the counterculture beat generation with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.
- Died: Monday, May 4, 2020 (Who else died on May 4?)
- Details of Death: Died at the age of 87 in Oakland, California.
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Beat Poet
McClure was one of the pioneering poets of the beat generation. Late actor Dennis Hopper once said, “Without the roar of McClure, there would have been no ’60s.” He was an organizer of the famous 1955 Six Gallery beat poetry reading and read at the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 1967 that was a prelude to the Summer of Love. McClure was close friends with Jim Morrison of the Doors and promoted him as a poet. He toured with Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek performing poetry readings and performed with Manzarek and Robbie Krieger in their Riders of the Storm band. McClure published more than 30 books of poetry and plays.
McClure on the start of the beat revolution
“The world that we tremblingly stepped out into in that decade was a bitter, gray one. We saw that the art of poetry was essentially dead — killed by war, by academies, by neglect, by lack of love, and by disinterest. We knew we could bring it back to life.” —From his 1982 book “Scratching the Surface of the Beats”
What they said about him
Full Obituary: Los Angeles Times
