Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet (often associated with the Beat Generation); and an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist who is frequently described as the 'laureate of Deep Ecology — roles reflecting his studies of both Buddhist spirituality and nature. As a social critic, Snyder's views share something in common with Lewis Mumford, Aldous Huxley, Karl Hess, Aldo Leopold, and Karl Polanyi.

The Beats

Back in San Francisco, Snyder lived with Whalen, who shared his growing interest in Zen Buddhism. Snyder's reading of the writings of D.T. Suzuki had in fact been a factor in his decision not to continue as a graduate student in anthropology, and in 1953 he enrolled with the University of California, Berkeley to study Oriental culture and languages. Snyder continued to spend summers working in the forests and one summer as a trail builder in Yosemite. He spent some months in 1955 living in a cabin in Mill Valley with Jack Kerouac. It was also at this time that Snyder was an occasional student at the American Academy of Asian Studies, where Saburo Hasegawa and Alan Watts, among others, were teaching.

Related Topics:
Zen Buddhism - D.T. Suzuki - 1953 - University of California, Berkeley - 1955 - Jack Kerouac - Saburo Hasegawa - Alan Watts

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Snyder met Allen Ginsberg when the latter sought Snyder out on the recommendation of Kenneth Rexroth. This period provided the materials for Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums. It is sometimes said, with good reason, that Kerouac protrayed the main characters in his early novels as loving a dionysian life with more chaos in it than the norm of the era. As the large majority of people in the Beat movement had urban backgrounds, writers like Ginsberg and Kerouac found Snyder, with his backcountry and manual-labor experience and interest in things rural, a refreshing and almost exotic individual. Lawrence Ferlinghetti later referred to Snyder as 'the Thoreau of the Beat Generation'.

Related Topics:
Allen Ginsberg - Kenneth Rexroth - The Dharma Bums - Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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Snyder read his poem "A Berry Feast" at the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco (October 13 1955) that heralded what was to become known as the San Francisco Renaissance. This also marked Snyder's first involvement with the Beats, although he was not a member of the original New York circle, but rather entered the scene through his association with Kenneth Rexroth.

Related Topics:
Poetry reading at the Six Gallery - October 13 - 1955 - San Francisco Renaissance

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As recounted in Kerouac's Dharma Bums, even at age 25 Snyder felt he could have a role in the fateful future meeting of West and East. Snyder's first book, Riprap, which drew on his experiences as a forest lookout and on the trail crew in Yosemite, was published in 1959.

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