Today in Labor History May 31, 1819: Poet Walt Whitman was born. Whitman published his first and most famous collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, in 1855, using his own money. It was criticized as obscene for its sensuality. During the Civil War, he volunteered in hospitals caring for the wounded. Many believe Whitman was gay or bisexual, based on his writings, though it is disputed by some historians. Oscar Wilde met Whitman in the United States in 1882 and told the homosexual-rights activist George Cecil Ives that Whitman's sexual orientation was beyond question—"I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips." Whitman is considered by many to be America’s first and greatest poet. He inspired many who came after him, including Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder and June Jordan.

Whitman’s commitment to solidarity inspired many leftists of the late 1800s and early 1900s, including Emma Goldman, and the IWW, which distributed to copies of Whitman’s poems to its members in the form of The Little Blue Book. Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Ralph Chaplin also claimed Whitman as an inspiration. He also inspired Cuban poet and revolutionary Jose Marti, as well as Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #waltwhitman #civilwar #poetry #books #poet #writer #lgbtq #gay #obscenity #oscarwilde #allanginsberg #IWW #solidarity @bookstadon

Today in Labor History April 26, 2004: Author Hubert Selby died. He wrote “Last Exit to Brooklyn” and “Requiem for a Dream.” His first novel, “The Queen is Dead,” was banned in Italy and prosecuted for #obscenity in the U.K. Allan Ginsberg thought that Last Exit would “explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years.” Selby dropped out of high school to work on the docks of Brooklyn, before becoming a merchant seaman in 1947. However, he caught tuberculosis from the cows on board the ship. He was in and out of hospitals for the next three years. Doctors told him he was going to die. But several surgeries and experimental drugs saved his life. Too sick to do physical labor, he tried writing to earn a living.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #HubertSelbey #literature #books #author #fiction #writer #obscenity #allanginsberg #LastExitToBrooklyn @bookstadon

Today in Labor History May 31, 1819: Poet Walt Whitman was born. Whitman published his first and most famous collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, in 1855, using his own money. It was criticized as obscene for its sensuality. During the Civil War, he volunteered in hospitals caring for the wounded. Many believe Whitman was gay or bisexual, based on his writings, though it is disputed by some historians. Oscar Wilde met Whitman in the United States in 1882 and told the homosexual-rights activist George Cecil Ives that Whitman's sexual orientation was beyond question—"I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips." Whitman is considered by many to be Americas first and greatest poet. He inspired many who came after him, including Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder and June Jordan.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #waltwhitman #civilwar #poetry #poet #writer #lgbtq #gay #obscenity #oscarwilde #allanginsberg @bookstadon

Today in Labor History April 26, 2004: Author Hubert Selby died. He wrote “Last Exit to Brooklyn” and “Requiem for a Dream.” His first novel, “The Queen is Dead,” was banned in Italy and prosecuted for #obscenity in the U.K. Allan Ginsberg thought that Last Exit would “explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years.” Selby dropped out of high school to work on the docks of Brooklyn, before becoming a merchant seaman in 1947. However, he caught tuberculosis from the cows on board the ship. He was in and out of hospitals for the next three years. Doctors told him he was going to die. But several surgeries and experimental drugs saved his life. Too sick to do physical labor, he tried writing to earn a living.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #HubertSelbey #literature #books #author #fiction #writer #obscenity #allanginsberg #LastExitToBrooklyn @bookstadon

Today in Labor History May 31, 1819: Poet Walt Whitman was born. Whitman published his first and most famous collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, in 1855, using his own money. It was criticized as obscene for its sensuality. During the Civil War, he volunteered in hospitals caring for the wounded. Many believe Whitman was gay or bisexual, based on his writings, though it is disputed by some historians. Oscar Wilde met Whitman in the United States in 1882 and told the homosexual-rights activist George Cecil Ives that Whitman's sexual orientation was beyond question—"I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips." Whitman is considered by many to be Americas first and greatest poet. He inspired many who came after him, including Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder and June Jordan.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #WaltWhitman #CivilWar #poetry #poet #writer #lgbtq #gay #obscenity #OscarWilde #AllanGinsberg @bookstadon

I was looking up some history about Alan Watts, who was famous for interpreting and popularizing Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. In researching him I learned about Druid Heights, a bohemian artist community of sorts north of San Francisco, and that's how I found the video below.
#AlanWatts #GarySnyder #ElsaGidlow #poetry #art #Buddhism #AllanGinsberg #SanFranciscoRenaissance #BeatGeneration

https://youtu.be/7Egj_9pAMqs