Van Nuys native Paul Yamazaki, a longtime veteran of San Francisco landmark City Lights, will receive a lifetime honor at the National Book Awards next month.
Gary Kamiya April 21, 2021Updated: April 21, 2021, 9:29 am
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of City Lights Bookstore, led a fight to change the name of Adler Place to Jack Kerouac Alley. City Lights Bookstore is now at Columbus Avenue and Jack Kerouac Alley in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. Photo: Scott Sommerdorf, The Chronicle 1987
Lawrence Ferlinghetti was an essential part of San Francisco’s literary scene from 1953, the year he and Peter Martin opened City Lights Pocket Book Shop, to Feb. 22, 2021, when he died at the patriarchal age of 101. Not even Herb Caen, who filed his daily Chronicle columns for nearly 60 years, can match the longevity of Ferlinghetti’s influence on their beloved (and in both cases, adopted) city.