Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder

The poet and painter, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is among the world's living monuments to arts and letters. For well over a half century, Ferlinghetti helped shape the currents of poetry and literature with his forceful engagement with society and an ideological position that often found him at odds with the political currents of his day. Ferlinghetti's quiet, behind the scenes demeanor and disarming mien may have assuaged, or even fooled, certain opponents, while in reality he was a literary mercenary, a rebel at the forefront of our own cultur...

Pull My Daisy

Based on an incident in the life of Beat icon Neal Cassady and his wife, the painter Carolyn, the film tells the story of a railway brakeman whose wife invites a respected bishop over for dinner. However, the brakeman's Bohemian friends crash the party, with comic results. Pull My Daisy is a film that typifies the Beat Generation. Directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, Daisy was adapted by Jack Kerouac from the third act of his play, Beat Generation; Kerouac also provided improvised narration.

Bard of the Village

The legend of Jack Hardy and the Songwriter's Exchange tell the story of Greenwhich Village folk Icon Jack Hardy, and the folk scene that he helped create. Jack's influence and his collective of songwriters produced such notable folks musicians as Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, Christine Lavine, Tracy Chapman and countless others. Jack's story is a fascinating tale of community and commitment to the song.