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115-922: Individuals and organizations associated either with the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam or the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam include Dr. Benjamin Spock and SANE , Sidney Peck, Eric Weinberger, David Dellinger , Jerry Rubin , James Bevel , Stew Albert , A. J. Muste , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , Coretta Scott King , Rennie Davis , Karen Wald, Fred Halstead , Bradford Lyttle , Charles Owen Rice , Vietnam Summer, Cornell Professor Robert Greenblatt (who became national coordinator of

230-683: A guaranteed minimum income for families; and for an end to American military interventionism and the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from foreign countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, Spock demonstrated and gave lectures against nuclear weapons and cuts in social welfare programs. In 1972, Spock, Julius Hobson (his vice presidential candidate), Linda Jenness (Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate), and Socialist Workers Party vice presidential candidate Andrew Pulley wrote to Major General Bert A. David, commanding officer of Fort Dix, asking for permission to distribute campaign literature and to hold an election-related campaign meeting. On

345-403: A macrobiotic diet which reportedly improved his health. "She gave me back my youth," Spock was quoted as saying. He adapted to her lifestyle, as she did to his. There were 40 years difference in their ages, but Spock would tell reporters they were both 16. Mary scheduled speaking dates and handled legal agreements for the 5th through 9th editions of Baby and Child Care . She continues to publish

460-480: A 1989 article for Redbook he stated that "circumcision of males is traumatic, painful, and of questionable value." He received the first Human Rights Award from the International Symposium on Circumcision (ISC) in 1991 and was quoted as saying, "My own preference, if I had the good fortune to have another son, would be to leave his little penis alone." In 1962, Spock joined The Committee for

575-575: A B.A in English and American Literature. According to The Poetry Foundation, Ginsberg spent several months in a mental institution after he pleaded insanity during a hearing. He was allegedly being prosecuted for harboring stolen goods in his dorm room. It was noted that the stolen property was not his, but belonged to an acquaintance. Ginsberg also took part in public readings at the Episcopal St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery which would later hold

690-537: A Sane Nuclear Policy, otherwise known as SANE . Spock was politically outspoken and active in the movement to end the Vietnam War . In 1968, he and four others (including William Sloane Coffin , Marcus Raskin , Mitchell Goodman , and Michael Ferber ) were singled out for prosecution by then Attorney General Ramsey Clark on charges of conspiracy to counsel, aid, and abet resistance to the draft. Spock and three of his alleged co-conspirators were convicted, although

805-472: A Washington organization advocating strict vegetarian diets, acknowledged he drafted the nutrition section in the 1998 edition of Baby and Child Care, but said Spock edited it to give it "his personal touch." It was acknowledged that in Spock's final years, he had strokes, bouts with pneumonia and a heart attack. Spock advocated that infants should not sleep on their backs, commenting in his 1958 edition that "if [an infant] vomits, he's more likely to choke on

920-592: A best-seller. Its message to parents is "You know more than you think you do." By 1998, it had sold more than 50 million copies, and had been translated into 42 languages. According to the New York Times , Baby and Child Care was, throughout its first 52 years, the second-best-selling book, next to the Bible . According to other sources , it was among best-sellers, albeit not second-best-selling. Spock advocated ideas about parenting that were considered out of

1035-600: A bookstore in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, a few months before his death. In 1993, Ginsberg visited the University of Maine at Orono to pay homage to the 90-year-old great Carl Rakosi . In 1950, Kerouac began studying Buddhism and shared what he learned from Dwight Goddard's Buddhist Bible with Ginsberg. Ginsberg first heard about the Four Noble Truths and such sutras as

1150-528: A chance encounter on a New York City street with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (they both tried to catch the same cab), a Kagyu and Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist master, led to Trungpa becoming his friend and lifelong teacher. Ginsberg helped Trungpa and New York poet Anne Waldman in founding the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado . Ginsberg

1265-926: A charge that Spock denied. Benjamin McLane Spock was born May 2, 1903, in New Haven, Connecticut . His parents were Benjamin Ives Spock, Yale graduate and long-time general counsel of the New Haven Railroad , and Mildred Louise (Stoughton) Spock. The family name had Dutch origins; they originally spelled it Spaak before migrating to the former colony of New Netherland . Spock was one of six children, including his younger sister, environmentalist writer Marjorie Spock . Spock attended Hamden Hall Country Day School , and went on to attend his father's alma maters Phillips Andover Academy and Yale University . He studied literature and history at Yale;

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1380-475: A false accusation. In June 1992, Spock told Associated Press journalist David Beard there was a link between pediatrics and political activism: People have said, "You've turned your back on pediatrics." I said, "No. It took me until I was in my 60s to realize that politics was a part of pediatrics." Conservatives also criticized Spock for being interested in the ideas of Sigmund Freud and John Dewey and his efforts to integrate their philosophies into

1495-436: A friendship with Ginsberg. Friendship with Kerouac or Burroughs might also apply, but both writers later strove to disassociate themselves from the name " Beat Generation ." Part of their dissatisfaction with the term came from the mistaken identification of Ginsberg as the leader. Ginsberg never claimed to be the leader of a movement. He claimed that many of the writers with whom he had become friends in this period shared many of

1610-597: A large demonstration for Washington, D.C., on October 21 , 1967. This demonstration was a rally at West Potomac Park near the Lincoln Memorial and a march to the Pentagon , where another rally would be held in a parking lot, followed by civil disobedience on the steps of the Pentagon itself. The action was known as the "March on the Pentagon." Hoping to attract young, educated college students, Mobe coordinator David Dellinger appointed Jerry Rubin , who led

1725-527: A letter to Ginsberg on a sheet of toilet paper. Baraka's independent publishing house Totem Press published Ginsberg's early work. Through a party organized by Baraka, Ginsberg was introduced to Langston Hughes while Ornette Coleman played saxophone. Later in his life, Ginsberg formed a bridge between the beat movement of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s, befriending, among others, Timothy Leary , Ken Kesey , Hunter S. Thompson , and Bob Dylan . Ginsberg gave his last public reading at Booksmith ,

1840-471: A memorial service for him after his death. Ginsberg referred to his parents in a 1985 interview as "old-fashioned delicatessen philosophers". His mother was also an active member of the Communist Party and took Ginsberg and his brother Eugene to party meetings. Ginsberg later said that his mother "made up bedtime stories that all went something like: 'The good king rode forth from his castle, saw

1955-658: A mental hospital; she would spend much of Ginsberg's youth in mental hospitals. His experiences with his mother and her mental illness were a major inspiration for his two major works, " Howl " and his long autobiographical poem " Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956) ". When he was in junior high school, he accompanied his mother by bus to her therapist. The trip deeply disturbed Ginsberg—he mentioned it and other moments from his childhood in "Kaddish". His experiences with his mother's mental illness and her institutionalization are also frequently referred to in "Howl." For example, "Pilgrim State, Rockland, and Grey Stone's foetid halls"

2070-525: A mutual friend, Carl Solomon , to whom he later dedicated his most famous poem "Howl." This poem is considered an autobiography of Ginsberg up to 1955, and a brief history of the Beat Generation through its references to his relationship to other Beat artists of that time. In 1948, in an apartment in East Harlem , Ginsberg experienced an auditory hallucination while masturbating and reading

2185-553: A number of men, including Peter Orlovsky , his lifelong partner. Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that "Howl" was not obscene, asking: "Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid innocuous euphemisms?" Ginsberg was a Buddhist who extensively studied Eastern religious disciplines . He lived modestly, buying his clothing in second-hand stores and residing in apartments in New York City's East Village . One of his most influential teachers

2300-468: A political bias against Spock's left-wing political activities. Spock himself, in his autobiography, said he had never advocated permissiveness; also, the attacks and claims that he had ruined American youth only arose after his public opposition to the Vietnam War. He regarded these claims as ad hominem attacks, whose political motivation and nature were clear. Spock addressed these accusations in

2415-463: A potential that existed outside the strict conformist confines of post–World War II, McCarthy -era America. Ginsberg and Carr talked excitedly about a "New Vision" (a phrase adapted from Yeats' "A Vision"), for literature and America. Carr also introduced Ginsberg to Neal Cassady , for whom Ginsberg had a long infatuation. In the first chapter of his 1957 novel On the Road Kerouac described

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2530-448: A regular schedule, and that they should not pick them up, kiss them, or hug them, because that would not prepare them to be strong, independent individuals in a harsh world. In contrast, Spock encouraged parents to show affection for their children and to see them as individuals. By the late 1960s, however, Spock's opposition to the Vietnam War had damaged his reputation. The 1968 edition of Baby and Child Care sold half as many copies of

2645-464: A second sailboat named Turtle , which he lived aboard and sailed in Maine in the summers. The Spocks lived only on boats for most of 20 years. By 1991, Spock was unable to walk without assistance and was reported as infirm shortly before his death. At the very end of Spock's life, he was advised to come ashore by his physician, Steve Pauker, of New England Medical Center, Boston. In 1992, Spock received

2760-657: A self-described "conversion to socialism ", Spock became an activist in the New Left and anti-Vietnam War movements during the '60s and early '70s, culminating in his run for President of the United States as the People's Party nominee in 1972 . He campaigned on a maximum wage , legalized abortion , and withdrawing troops from all foreign countries. His books were criticized by conservatives for propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratification ,

2875-785: A series of illnesses that left him weak and unable to walk unaided. After making the dietary change, he lost 50 pounds, regained his ability to walk and became healthier overall. The revised edition stated children on an all-plant diet will reduce their risk of developing heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain diet-related cancers. Studies suggest that vegetarian children are leaner, and adult vegetarians are known to be at lower risk of such diseases. However, Spock's recommendations were criticized as being irresponsible towards children's health and children's ability to sustain normal growth, which has been aided with minerals such as calcium, riboflavin, vitamin D, iron, zinc and at times protein. Spock's approach to childhood nutrition

2990-462: A song in praise of Lord Krishna on William F. Buckley, Jr. 's TV show Firing Line on September 3, 1968, Buckley acceded and the poet chanted slowly as he played dolefully on a harmonium. According to Richard Brookhiser , an associate of Buckley's, the host commented that it was "the most unharried Krishna I've ever heard." At the 1967 Human Be-In in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park,

3105-532: A state of ecstasy. He was glad that Bhaktivedanta Swami, an authentic swami from India, was now trying to spread the chanting in America. Along with other counterculture ideologists like Timothy Leary , Gary Snyder , and Alan Watts , Ginsberg hoped to incorporate Bhaktivedanta Swami and his chanting into the hippie movement, and agreed to take part in the Mantra-Rock Dance concert and to introduce

3220-664: A very parched collective mind." Tom McGrath wrote: "This could well turn out to have been a very significant moment in the history of England—or at least in the history of English Poetry." Soon after the bookshop reading, plans were hatched for the International Poetry Incarnation , which was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on June 11, 1965. The event attracted an audience of 7,000, who heard readings and live and tape performances by

3335-429: A while during the burgeoning Beat generation's period of development. As a Barnard student, Elise Cowen extensively read the poetry of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot , when she met Joyce Johnson and Leo Skir, among other Beat players. As Cowen had felt a strong attraction to darker poetry most of the time, Beat poetry seemed to provide an allure to what suggests a shadowy side of her persona. While at Barnard, Cowen earned

3450-472: A wide variety of figures, including Ginsberg, Adrian Mitchell , Alexander Trocchi , Harry Fainlight , Anselm Hollo , Christopher Logue , George MacBeth , Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Michael Horovitz , Simon Vinkenoog , Spike Hawkins and Tom McGrath . The event was organized by Ginsberg's friend, the filmmaker Barbara Rubin . Peter Whitehead documented the event on film and released it as Wholly Communion . A book featuring images from

3565-508: A year at a time in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Benares (Varanasi). On his road to India he stayed two months in Athens ( August 29, 1961 – October 31, 1961) where he visited various sites such as Delphi , Mycines , Crete , and then continued his journey to Israel , Kenya and finally India . Also during this time, he formed friendships with some of the prominent young Bengali poets of

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3680-624: Is a reference to institutions frequented by his mother and Carl Solomon , ostensibly the subject of the poem: Pilgrim State Hospital and Rockland State Hospital in New York and Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey . This is followed soon by the line "with mother finally ******." Ginsberg later admitted the deletion was the expletive "fucked." He also says of Solomon in section three, "I'm with you in Rockland where you imitate

3795-546: Is documented by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami in his biographical account Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta . Ginsberg donated money, materials, and his reputation to help the Swami establish the first temple, and toured with him to promote his cause. Despite disagreeing with many of Bhaktivedanta Swami's required prohibitions , Ginsberg often sang the Hare Krishna mantra publicly as part of his philosophy and declared that it brought

3910-433: Is not only a biography of Ginsberg's experiences before 1955, but also a history of the Beat Generation. Ginsberg also later claimed that at the core of "Howl" were his unresolved emotions about his schizophrenic mother. Though "Kaddish" deals more explicitly with his mother, "Howl" in many ways is driven by the same emotions. "Howl" chronicles the development of many important friendships throughout Ginsberg's life. He begins

4025-789: Is one of the best-selling books of the 20th century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998. The book's premise told mothers, "You know more than you think you do." Dr. Spock was widely regarded as a trusted source for parenting advice in his generation. Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis in an effort to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas influenced several generations of parents, encouraging them to be more flexible and affectionate with their children and to treat them as individuals. However, his theories were widely criticized by colleagues for relying heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than serious academic research. After undergoing

4140-551: The 1971 Bangladeshi genocide , exemplifying what literary critic Helen Vendler described as Ginsberg's persistent opposition to "imperial politics" and the "persecution of the powerless". His collection The Fall of America shared the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1974. In 1979, he received the National Arts Club gold medal and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters . He

4255-778: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy . The Spocks divorced in 1976. Cheney went on to organize and run support groups for older divorced women. In 1976, Spock married Mary Morgan. They built a home on Beaver Lake in Arkansas where Spock would row daily. Mary quickly adapted to Spock's life of travel and political activism, and was arrested with him many times for civil disobedience. Once they were arrested in Washington, D.C. for praying on

4370-649: The Diamond Sutra at this time. Ginsberg's endorsement helped establish the Krishna movement within New York's bohemian culture. Ginsberg's spiritual journey began early on with his spontaneous visions, and continued with an early trip to India with Gary Snyder . Snyder had previously spent time in Kyoto to study at the First Zen Institute at Daitoku-ji Monastery. At one point, Snyder chanted

4485-541: The Hungryalist poets of Bengal , especially Malay Roy Choudhury, who introduced Ginsberg to the three fish with one head of Indian emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar . The three fish symbolised coexistence of all thought, philosophy, and religion. In spite of Ginsberg's attraction to Eastern religions, the journalist Jane Kramer argues that he, like Whitman, adhered to an "American brand of mysticism" that

4600-800: The Mantra-Rock Dance , a musical event 1967 held at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. It featured some leading rock bands of the time: Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , the Grateful Dead , and Moby Grape , who performed there along with the Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami and donated proceeds to the Krishna temple. Ginsberg introduced Bhaktivedanta Swami to some three thousand hippies in

4715-1054: The Merchant Marine to earn money to continue his education at Columbia. While at Columbia, Ginsberg contributed to the Columbia Review literary journal, the Jester humor magazine, won the Woodberry Poetry Prize, served as president of the Philolexian Society (literary and debate group), and joined Boar's Head Society (poetry society). He was a resident of Hartley Hall , where other Beat Generation poets such as Jack Kerouac and Herbert Gold also lived. Ginsberg has stated that he considered his required freshman seminar in Great Books, taught by Lionel Trilling , to be his favorite Columbia course. In 1948, he graduated from Columbia with

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4830-613: The Paterson Morning Call . While in high school, Ginsberg became interested in the works of Walt Whitman , inspired by his teacher's passionate reading. In 1943, Ginsberg graduated from Eastside High School and briefly attended Montclair State College before entering Columbia University on a scholarship from the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Paterson. Ginsberg intended to study law at Columbia but later changed his major to literature . In 1945, he joined

4945-701: The Prajnaparamita , which in Ginsberg's words "blew my mind." His interest piqued, Ginsberg traveled to meet the Dalai Lama as well as the Karmapa at Rumtek Monastery. Continuing on his journey, Ginsberg met Dudjom Rinpoche in Kalimpong , who taught him: "If you see something horrible, don't cling to it, and if you see something beautiful, don't cling to it." After returning to the United States,

5060-559: The Spring Mobilization Against the War . Spock wore a suit and held a sign that read "Children are not born to burn." In 1968, Spock signed the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest " pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War, and he later became a sponsor of the War Tax Resistance project, which practiced and advocated tax resistance as a form of anti-war protest. He

5175-399: The fire escape of the apartment and then at the sky, he intuited that one had been crafted by human beings, while the other had been crafted by itself. He explained that this hallucination was not inspired by drug use, but said he sought to recapture the feeling of interconnectedness later with various drugs. Ginsberg moved to San Francisco during the 1950s. Before Howl and Other Poems

5290-485: The gold medal . I Love Lucy mentions Dr. Spock twice. In "Nursery School", Lucy quotes a sentence from his child care book out of context to justify her not sending Little Ricky to nursery school . Ricky then reads the rest of the passage, all of which applies to Little Ricky's home life situation, causing Lucy to ask, ""Well, what does he know?" Ricky then asserts that he and "Dr. Spook " agree about nursery school. Lucy corrects Ricky and asks how Spock knew this, and

5405-543: The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the 1970 Black Panther rally at Yale campus Allen chanted "Om" repeatedly over a sound system for hours on end. Ginsberg further brought mantras into the world of rock and roll when he recited the Heart Sutra in the song " Ghetto Defendant ". The song appears on the 1982 album Combat Rock by British first wave punk band The Clash . Ginsberg came in touch with

5520-564: The 1968 Democratic and Republican Conventions entitled Miami and the Siege of Chicago . Following the election of Richard M. Nixon , the Mobe organized a "counter-inaugural" to take place in Washington, D.C., on the day of Nixon's inauguration . This demonstration also attracted about 10,000 people and was accompanied by street violence. The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam then disbanded. Future national marches against

5635-473: The 1970s, Ginsberg had two minor strokes which were first diagnosed as Bell's palsy , which gave him significant paralysis and stroke-like drooping of the muscles in one side of his face. Later in life, he also had constant minor ailments such as high blood pressure . Many of these symptoms were related to stress, but he never slowed down his schedule. Ginsberg won a 1974 National Book Award for The Fall of America (split with Adrienne Rich , Diving into

5750-496: The Beat Generation in a broader sense. Ginsberg's mentor William Carlos Williams wrote an introductory letter to San Francisco Renaissance figurehead Kenneth Rexroth , who then introduced Ginsberg into the San Francisco poetry scene. There, Ginsberg also met three budding poets and Zen enthusiasts who had become friends at Reed College : Gary Snyder , Philip Whalen , and Lew Welch . In 1959, along with poets John Kelly, Bob Kaufman , A. D. Winans , and William Margolis, Ginsberg

5865-624: The Beat Generation, and his own political views, "Howl," his most famous poem, is still perhaps the best place to start. In 1957, Ginsberg surprised the literary world by abandoning San Francisco. After a spell in Morocco , he and Peter Orlovsky joined Gregory Corso in Paris. Corso introduced them to a shabby lodging house above a bar at 9 rue Gît-le-Cœur that was to become known as the Beat Hotel . They were soon joined by Burroughs and others. It

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5980-555: The Dalai Lama, Tibetologists, and students were "guided by Allen's extensive notes on the contact sheets and images he'd circled with the intention to print." In 1960, he was treated for a tropical disease , and it is speculated that he contracted hepatitis from an unsterilized needle administered by a doctor, which played a role in his death 37 years later. Ginsberg was a lifelong smoker, and though he tried to quit for health and religious reasons, his busy schedule in later life made it difficult, and he always returned to smoking. In

6095-559: The Lincoln Memorial to The Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Virginia to participate in a second rally. About 650 people, including novelist Norman Mailer , were arrested for civil disobedience on the steps of the Pentagon. A few individuals such as Allen Ginsberg , Ed Sanders , Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (Hoffman and Rubin would co-found the Yippies later in '67) attempted by means of meditation and chanting to "levitate"

6210-738: The Mobilization to End the War), and Tom Hayden . The November 8 Mobilization Committee formed in Cleveland, Ohio September 10–11, 1966. The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam emerged from the November 8th Mobilization Committee, and was cemented at the Cleveland Conference on November 26, 1966. The national director was Reverend James Bevel . On April 15, 1967, the Spring Mobilization's massive march against

6325-462: The New York march its last speaker, James Bevel , the Spring Mobilization's chairman and initiator of the march on the U.N. (until Bevel came aboard at the invitation of A. J. Muste and David Dellinger the plan was for just an April 15 rally in Central Park), made an impromptu announcement that the next major anti-war gathering would be in Washington, D.C. Bevel's announcement brought about

6440-665: The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library for his lifelong commitment to disarmament and peaceable child-rearing. Spock had two sons. Spock died at a house he was renting in La Jolla, California , on March 15, 1998. His ashes were buried in Rockport, Maine , where he spent his summers. In 1946, Spock published The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care , which became

6555-539: The Pony Stable Bar. Corso, recently released from prison, was supported by the Pony Stable patrons and was writing poetry there the night of their meeting. Ginsberg claims he was immediately attracted to Corso, who was straight, but understood homosexuality after three years in prison. Ginsberg was even more struck by reading Corso's poems, realizing Corso was "spiritually gifted." Ginsberg introduced Corso to

6670-590: The Spring Mobilization Conference, a gathering of 700 antiwar activists held in Washington, D.C., May 20–21, 1967, called to evaluate April's massive antiwar demonstrations. It was organized to chart a future course for the antiwar movement, and set another large antiwar action for the fall of 1967 and created an administrative committee—the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam—to plan it. The Mobe then planned and organized

6785-400: The U.S. could have been prevented had this advice been changed by 1970 when such evidence became available. In the 1940s, Spock favored circumcision of males performed within a few days of birth. However, in the 1976 revision of Baby and Child Care he concurred with a 1971 American Academy of Pediatrics task force that there was no medical reason to recommend routine circumcision, and in

6900-449: The Vietnam War from Central Park to the United Nations attracted hundreds of thousands of people, including Martin Luther King Jr. , Harry Belafonte , James Bevel , and Dr. Benjamin Spock , who marched and spoke at the event. During the event many draft cards were burned, according to the New York Times . Among the speakers at the simultaneous march in San Francisco were Coretta Scott King , Eldridge Cleaver , and Julian Bond . At

7015-425: The Vietnam War held nationwide. The groups then organized another large demonstration in Washington, D.C., to occur a month later, on November 15, 1969, which was also attended by a large crowd. Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998), widely known as Dr. Spock , was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist. His book Baby and Child Care (1946)

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7130-444: The Vietnam war would be organized by other groups. The similarly named and inspired New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (New Mobe) was founded at a conference at Case Western Reserve University in July 1969, and, together with the Vietnam Moratorium Committee and the Student Mobilization Committee (SMC), organized the October 15, 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam which resulted in large demonstrations against

7245-467: The White House lawn. Morgan was strip-searched; Spock was not. Morgan sued the jail and the mayor of Washington, D.C. for sex discrimination. The ACLU took the case and won. For most of his life, Spock wore Brooks Brothers suits and shirts with detachable collars, but at 75, for the first time in his life, Mary got him to try blue jeans. She joined him in meditation twice a day and introduced him to Transactional analysis (TA) therapists, massage, yoga and

7360-402: The Wreck ). In 1986, Ginsberg was awarded the Golden Wreath by the Struga Poetry Evenings International Festival in Macedonia, the second American poet to be so awarded since W. H. Auden . At Struga, Ginsberg met with the other Golden Wreath winners, Bulat Okudzhava and Andrei Voznesensky . In 1989, Ginsberg appeared in Rosa von Praunheim 's award-winning film Silence = Death about

7475-545: The audience and led the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra . Music and chanting were both important parts of Ginsberg's live delivery during poetry readings. He often accompanied himself on a harmonium , and was often accompanied by a guitarist. It is believed that the Hindi and Buddhist poet Nagarjun had introduced Ginsberg to the harmonium in Banaras. According to Malay Roy Choudhury , Ginsberg refined his practice while learning from his relatives, including his cousin Savitri Banerjee. When Ginsberg asked if he could sing

7590-521: The bars, in the sunlight in the window." In a letter she wrote to Ginsberg's brother Eugene, she said, "God's informers come to my bed, and God himself I saw in the sky. The sunshine showed too, a key on the side of the window for me to get out. The yellow of the sunshine, also showed the key on the side of the window." These letters and the absence of a facility to recite kaddish inspired Ginsberg to write "Kaddish", which makes references to many details from Naomi's life, Ginsberg's experiences with her, and

7705-445: The basis of Fort Dix regulations 210-26 and 210–27, General David refused the request. Spock, Hobson, Jenness, Pulley, and others then filed a case that ultimately made its way to the United States Supreme Court (424 U.S. 828— Greer, Commander, Fort Dix Military Reservation, et al., v. Spock et al. ), which ruled against the plaintiffs . Spock was the People's Party and the Peace and Freedom Party nominee in 1976 for vice president as

7820-410: The book with co-author Robert Needlman. For many years, Spock lived aboard his sailboat, the Carapace, in the British Virgin Islands off Tortola . At 84, Spock won third place in a rowing contest, crossing four miles (6.4 km) of the Sir Francis Drake Channel between Tortola and Norman Island in 2.5 hours. He credited his strength and good health to his lifestyle and his love for life. Spock had

7935-440: The building and "exorcise the evil within." These events were chronicled by Norman Mailer in his non-fiction novel The Armies of the Night . Following the Pentagon demonstration, the Mobe began discussion and planning for demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention , to be held in Chicago , where President Lyndon B. Johnson was expected to be nominated for a second term. Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden were

8050-453: The destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. San Francisco police and US Customs seized copies of "Howl" in 1956, and a subsequent obscenity trial in 1957 attracted widespread publicity due to the poem's language and descriptions of heterosexual and homosexual sex at a time when sodomy laws made (male) homosexual acts a crime in every state. The poem reflected Ginsberg's own sexuality and his relationships with

8165-474: The disorderliness of young people, many of whose parents had been devotees of Baby and Child Care . Vice President Spiro Agnew also blamed Spock for "permissiveness". These allegations were enthusiastically embraced by conservative adults, who viewed the rebellious youth of that era with disapproval, referring to them as "the Spock generation". Spock's supporters countered that these criticisms betrayed an ignorance of what Spock had actually written, and/or

8280-500: The fight of gay artists in New York City for AIDS-education and the rights of HIV infected people. In 1993, the French Minister of Culture appointed Ginsberg a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres . Ginsberg continued to help his friends as much as he could: he gave money to Herbert Huncke out of his own pocket, regularly supplied neighbor Arthur Russell with an extension cord to power his home recording setup, and housed

8395-553: The film and some of the poems that were performed was also published under the same title by Lorrimer in the UK and Grove Press in US. Though the term "Beat" is most accurately applied to Ginsberg and his closest friends (Corso, Orlovsky, Kerouac, Burroughs, etc.), the term "Beat Generation" has become associated with many of the other poets Ginsberg met and became friends with in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A key feature of this term seems to be

8510-464: The first accusation 22 years after Baby and Child Care was originally published—and since those who write about how harmful my book is invariably assure me they've never used it—I think it's clear that the hostility is to my politics rather than my pediatric advice. And though I've been denying the accusation for 25 years, one of the first questions I get from many reporters and interviewers is, "Dr. Spock, are you still permissive?" You can't catch up with

8625-422: The first chapter of his 1994 book, Rebuilding American Family Values: A Better World for Our Children. The Permissive Label: A couple weeks after my indictment [for "conspiracy to counsel, aid and abet resistance to the military draft"], I was accused by Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, a well-known clergyman and author who supported the Vietnam War, of corrupting an entire generation. In a sermon widely reported in

8740-503: The five had never been in the same room together. His two-year prison sentence was never served; the case was appealed, and in 1969 a federal court set aside his conviction. In 1967, Spock was pressed to run as Martin Luther King Jr. 's vice-presidential running mate at the National Conference for New Politics over Labor Day weekend in Chicago. In April of that year, Spock helped lead the largest anti-war protest to date,

8855-459: The general population. Spock wrote: John Dewey and Freud said that kids don't have to be disciplined into adulthood but can direct themselves toward adulthood by following their own will. Spock was part of the all-Yale Men's eight rowing team at the 1924 Summer Olympics , captained by James Rockefeller (later president of what would become Citigroup ). Competing on the Seine , the team won

8970-485: The key Mobe organizers for the Chicago demonstration , and would later be indicted for conspiracy and inciting a riot as members of the Chicago Seven . The Chicago demonstrations drew only 10,000 participants because it was widely anticipated that the mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley , would deploy his police to prevent marches to the site of the convention. Norman Mailer wrote a non-fiction novel about both

9085-809: The lanky 6' 4" Spock was also active in college rowing . Eventually, he joined the Olympic rowing crew (Men's Eights) that won a gold medal at the 1924 games in Paris . At Yale, he was inducted into the Eta chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity and the senior society Scroll and Key . He attended the Yale School of Medicine for two years before shifting to Columbia University 's College of Physicians and Surgeons , from which he graduated first in his class in 1929. By that time, he had married Jane Cheney. Jane Cheney and Spock were married in 1927. Jane assisted Spock in

9200-457: The large Vietnam Day Committee at the University of California, Berkeley , to organize the march. The initial D.C. rally, which was galvanized by a concert performance from counterculture folk singer Phil Ochs , drew approximately 70,000 participants at the Lincoln Memorial. Following Ochs' concert, as well as speeches from Dellinger and Dr. Spock, around 50,000 of those attending were then led by social activist Abbie Hoffman and marched from

9315-402: The letter, including the lines "the key is in the light" and "the key is in the window." In Ginsberg's first year at Columbia he met fellow undergraduate Lucien Carr , who introduced him to a number of future Beat writers, including Jack Kerouac , William S. Burroughs , and John Clellon Holmes . They bonded, because they saw in one another an excitement about the potential of American youth,

9430-400: The mainstream. Over time, his books helped to bring about major change. Previously, experts (such as Truby King ) had told parents babies needed to learn to sleep on a regular schedule, and that picking them up and holding them when they cried would only teach them to cry more and not to sleep through the night (a notion that borrows from behaviorism ). They were told to feed their children on

9545-633: The meeting between Ginsberg and Cassady. Kerouac saw them as the dark (Ginsberg) and light (Cassady) side of their "New Vision", a perception stemming partly from Ginsberg's association with communism, of which Kerouac had become increasingly distrustful. Though Ginsberg was never a member of the Communist Party, Kerouac named him "Carlo Marx" in On the Road . This was a source of strain in their relationship. Also, in New York, Ginsberg met Gregory Corso in

9660-746: The most important events in Beat mythos, known simply as "The Six Gallery reading " took place on October 7, 1955. The event, in essence, brought together the East and West Coast factions of the Beat Generation . Of more personal significance to Ginsberg, the reading that night included the first public presentation of "Howl," a poem that brought worldwide fame to Ginsberg and to many of the poets associated with him. An account of that night can be found in Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums , describing how change

9775-592: The nickname "Beat Alice" as she had joined a small group of anti-establishment artists and visionaries known to outsiders as beatniks, and one of her first acquaintances at the college was the beat poet Joyce Johnson who later portrayed Cowen in her books, including "Minor Characters" and Come and Join the Dance , which expressed the two women's experiences in the Barnard and Columbia Beat community. Through his association with Elise Cowen, Ginsberg discovered that they shared

9890-564: The poem with "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness", which sets the stage for Ginsberg to describe Cassady and Solomon, immortalizing them into American literature. This madness was the "angry fix" that society needed to function—madness was its disease. In the poem, Ginsberg focused on "Carl Solomon! I'm with you in Rockland", and, thus, turned Solomon into an archetypal figure searching for freedom from his "straightjacket". Though references in most of his poetry reveal much about his biography, his relationship to other members of

10005-507: The poetry of William Blake , which he later referred to as his "Blake vision". Ginsberg claimed to have heard the voice of God—also described as the "voice of the Ancient of Days "—or of Blake himself reading " Ah! Sun-flower ", " The Sick Rose " and " The Little Girl Lost ". The experience lasted several days, with him believing that he had witnessed the interconnectedness of the universe; Ginsberg recounted that after looking at latticework on

10120-422: The president had implanted listening devices in their home and that her mother-in-law was trying to kill her. Her suspicion of those around her caused Naomi to draw closer to young Allen, "her little pet," as Bill Morgan says in his biography of Ginsberg, titled I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg . She also tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists and was soon taken to Greystone ,

10235-480: The press, Reverend Peale blamed me for all the lack of patriotism, lack of responsibility, and lack of discipline of the young people who opposed the war. All these failings, he said, were due to my having told their parents to give them "instant gratification" as babies. I was showered with blame in dozens of editorials and columns from primarily conservative newspapers all over the country heartily agreeing with Peale's assertions. Many parents have since stopped me on

10350-482: The prior edition. Later in life, Spock wrote Dr. Spock on Vietnam and co-wrote an autobiography entitled Spock on Spock (with wife Mary Morgan Spock), in which he stated his attitude toward aging: Delay and Deny . In the seventh edition of Baby and Child Care published shortly after he died, Spock advocated for a bold change in children's diets, recommending children switch to a vegan diet after age 2. Spock himself had switched to an all-plant diet in 1991 after

10465-546: The research and writing of Dr. Spock's Baby & Child Care , published in 1946 by Duell, Sloan & Pearce as The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. The book has sold more than 50 million copies in 42 languages. Jane Cheney Spock was a civil liberties advocate and mother of two sons. She was born in Manchester, Connecticut , and attended Bryn Mawr College . She was active in Americans for Democratic Action ,

10580-406: The rest of his inner circle. In their first meeting at the Pony Stable, Corso showed Ginsberg a poem about a woman who lived across the street from him and sunbathed naked in the window. Amazingly, the woman happened to be Ginsberg's girlfriend that he was living with during one of his forays into heterosexuality. Ginsberg took Corso over to their apartment. There the woman proposed sex with Corso, who

10695-447: The running mate of Margaret Wright . Preacher Norman Vincent Peale supported the Vietnam War and, in the late '60s, criticized the anti-war movement and the perceived laxity of that era, blaming Dr. Spock's books: "The U.S. was paying the price of two generations that followed the Dr. Spock baby plan of instant gratification of needs." In the '60s and '70s, Spock was also blamed for

10810-542: The same intentions and themes. Some of these friends include: David Amram , Bob Kaufman ; Diane di Prima ; Jim Cohn ; poets associated with the Black Mountain College such as Charles Olson , Robert Creeley , and Denise Levertov ; poets associated with the New York School such as Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch . LeRoi Jones before he became Amiri Baraka , who, after reading "Howl", wrote

10925-403: The shade of my mother," once again showing the association between Solomon and his mother. Ginsberg received a letter from his mother after her death responding to a copy of "Howl" he had sent her. It admonished Ginsberg to be good and stay away from drugs; she says, "The key is in the window, the key is in the sunlight at the window—I have the key—Get married Allen don't take drugs—the key is in

11040-599: The street or in airports to thank me for helping them to raise fine children, and they've often added, "I don't see any instant gratification in Baby and Child Care ". I say they're right—I've always advised parents to give their children firm, clear leadership and to ask for cooperation and politeness in return. On the other hand, I've also received letters from conservative mothers saying, in effect, "Thank God I've never used your horrible book. That's why my children take baths, wear clean clothes and get good grades." Since I received

11155-461: The suffering workers and healed them.'" Of his father Ginsberg said: "My father would go around the house either reciting Emily Dickinson and Longfellow under his breath or attacking T. S. Eliot for ruining poetry with his ' obscurantism .' I grew suspicious of both sides." Naomi Ginsberg had schizophrenia which often manifested as paranoid delusions , disordered thinking and multiple suicide attempts . She would claim, for example, that

11270-496: The swami to the Haight-Ashbury hippie community. On January 17, 1967, Ginsberg helped plan and organize a reception for Bhaktivedanta Swami at San Francisco International Airport , where fifty to a hundred hippies greeted the Swami, chanting Hare Krishna in the airport lounge with flowers in hands. To further support and promote Bhaktivendata Swami's message and chanting in San Francisco, Allen Ginsberg agreed to attend

11385-502: The time including Shakti Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay . Ginsberg had several political connections in India; most notably Pupul Jayakar who helped him extend his stay in India when the authorities were eager to expel him. In May 1965, Ginsberg arrived in London, and offered to read anywhere for free. Shortly after his arrival, he gave a reading at Better Books , which was described by Jeff Nuttall as "the first healing wind on

11500-579: The vomitus." This advice was extremely influential on healthcare providers, with nearly unanimous support through the 1990s. Later empirical studies, however, found a significantly increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) associated with infants sleeping on their abdomens. Advocates of evidence-based medicine have used this as an example of the importance of basing healthcare recommendations on statistical evidence. One researcher estimated that as many as 50,000 infant deaths in Europe, Australia, and

11615-622: Was "rooted in humanism and in a romantic and visionary ideal of harmony among men." The Allen Ginsberg Estate and Jewel Heart International partnered to present "Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and Friends", a gallery and online exhibition of images of Gelek Rimpoche by Allen Ginsberg, a student with whom he had an "indissoluble bond," in 2021 at Tibet House US in New York City. Fifty negatives from Ginsberg's Stanford University photo archive celebrated "the unique relationship between Allen and Rimpoche." The selection of never-before presented images, featuring great Tibetan masters including

11730-498: Was Tibetan Buddhist Chögyam Trungpa , the founder of the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado . At Trungpa's urging, Ginsberg and poet Anne Waldman started The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics there in 1974. For decades, Ginsberg was active in political protests across a range of issues from the Vietnam War to the war on drugs . His poem " September on Jessore Road " drew attention to refugees fleeing

11845-710: Was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1995 for his book Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992 . Ginsberg was born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey , and grew up in nearby Paterson . He was the second son of Louis Ginsberg , also born in Newark, a schoolteacher and published poet, and the former Naomi Levy, born in Nevel (Russia) and a fervent Marxist . As a teenager, Ginsberg began to write letters to The New York Times about political issues, such as World War II and workers' rights . He published his first poems in

11960-563: Was a featured speaker at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam march. In 1970, Dr. Benjamin Spock was active in The New Party serving as Honorary co-chairman with Gore Vidal. In the 1972 United States presidential election , Spock was the People's Party candidate with a platform that called for free medical care; the repeal of " victimless crime " laws, including the legalization of abortion , homosexuality , and cannabis ;

12075-512: Was a productive, creative time for all of them. There, Ginsberg began his epic poem "Kaddish", Corso composed Bomb and Marriage , and Burroughs (with help from Ginsberg and Corso) put together Naked Lunch from previous writings. This period was documented by the photographer Harold Chapman , who moved in at about the same time, and took pictures constantly of the residents of the "hotel" until it closed in 1963. During 1962–1963, Ginsberg and Orlovsky travelled extensively across India, living half

12190-613: Was also arrested for his involvement in anti-war protests resulting from his signing of the anti-war manifesto "A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority" circulated by members of the radical intellectual collective RESIST . The individuals arrested during this incident came to be known as the Boston Five. In 1968, the American Humanist Association named Spock Humanist of the Year . On 15 October 1969, Spock

12305-555: Was also involved with Krishnaism . He had started incorporating chanting the Hare Krishna mantra into his religious practice in the mid-1960s. After learning that A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada , the founder of the Hare Krishna movement in the Western world had rented a store front in New York, he befriended him, visiting him often and suggesting publishers for his books, and a fruitful relationship began. This relationship

12420-540: Was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr , William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac , forming the core of the Beat Generation . He vigorously opposed militarism , economic materialism , and sexual repression , and he embodied various aspects of this counterculture with his views on drugs, sex, multiculturalism , hostility to bureaucracy , and openness to Eastern religions . Best known for his poem " Howl ", Ginsberg denounced what he saw as

12535-564: Was banned for obscenity. The ban became a cause célèbre among defenders of the First Amendment , and was later lifted, after Judge Clayton W. Horn declared the poem to possess redeeming artistic value. Ginsberg and Shig Murao , the City Lights manager who was jailed for selling "Howl," became lifelong friends. Ginsberg claimed at one point that all of his work was an extended biography (like Kerouac's Duluoz Legend ). "Howl"

12650-484: Was collected from audience members to buy jugs of wine, and Ginsberg reading passionately, drunken, with arms outstretched. Ginsberg's principal work, "Howl," is well known for its opening line: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked [...]." "Howl" was considered scandalous at the time of its publication, because of the rawness of its language. Shortly after its 1956 publication by San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore , it

12765-511: Was criticized by a number of experts, including co-author Boston pediatrician Steven J. Parker, as too extreme and likely to result in nutritional deficiencies unless it was carefully planned and executed, which would be difficult for working parents. T. Berry Brazelton, Boston City Hospital pediatrician who specialized in child behavior (and longtime admirer and friend of Dr. Spock), called the dietary recommendations "absolutely insane." Neal Barnard, president of Physicians for Responsible Medicine,

12880-484: Was he ever a mother. In "Little Ricky's School Pageant", when Lucy and Ricky discuss Little Ricky's role in a school play, Ricky tells Lucy that it's more important that their son learn to cooperate with others than have a big part in the play. Lucy then calls her husband a Cuban Dr. Spock. Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ n z b ɜːr ɡ / ; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997)

12995-591: Was one of the founders of the Beatitude poetry magazine. Wally Hedrick —a painter and co-founder of the Six Gallery —approached Ginsberg in mid-1955 and asked him to organize a poetry reading at the Six Gallery . At first, Ginsberg refused, but once he had written a rough draft of "Howl," he changed his "fucking mind," as he put it. Ginsberg advertised the event as "Six Poets at the Six Gallery." One of

13110-554: Was published in 1956 by City Lights , he worked as a market researcher. In 1954, in San Francisco, Ginsberg met Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), with whom he fell in love and who remained his lifelong partner. Selections from their correspondence have been published. Also in San Francisco, Ginsberg met members of the San Francisco Renaissance (James Broughton, Robert Duncan, Madeline Gleason and Kenneth Rexroth) and other poets who would later be associated with

13225-399: Was still very young and fled in fear. Ginsberg introduced Corso to Kerouac and Burroughs and they began to travel together. Ginsberg and Corso remained lifelong friends and collaborators. Shortly after this period in Ginsberg's life, he became romantically involved with Elise Nada Cowen after meeting her through Alex Greer, a philosophy professor at Barnard College whom she had dated for

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