About
Beat and Surrealist poet in the oral tradition whose poems follow jazz music rules of meter and syncopation. His published poetic works include Second April, Abomunist Manifesto, and Golden Sardine.
Before Fame
He was one of fourteen children born in New Orleans to an Afro-Caribbean mother and a German-Jewish father.
Trivia
He took a Buddhist vow of silence from the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination until the 1973 conclusion of the Vietnam War.
Family Life
His 1944 marriage to Ida Berrocal produced one daughter, and his 1958 marriage to Eileen Singe resulted in one son.
Associated With
He and Allen Ginsberg were both Beat poets.
