Springtime in the Rockies, Lichen
San Francisco, CA: A Cranium Free Poem. 14" x 8.5", Broadside on light brown paper, with graphic in lichen green in the lower half. Insignificant (< 1/4") tear on lower left margin, light crease at top right corner. Printed in pencil on the rear, "Printed by Clifford Burke" Lew Welch (1926 - 1971?) was a central character in the Beat movement. While attending Reed College his roommate was Gary Snyder and he was close to Phil Whalen. In the novel "Big Sur", Kerouac based his character, Dave Wain, on Welch. Later in life he lived a common law life with Polish refugee Maria Magdalena Cregg. Welch acted as the stepfather to her son, later known as the rocker Huey Lewis. In 1971 Welch walked into the California mountains with a handgun, leaving behind a suicide note. His body was never discovered. Clifford Burke: "I found myself in the early Sixties smack in the middle of the political and literary upheavals of Berkeley and San Francisco and so the craft of printing and political activism and literary bookmaking all came together in an "underground" print shop called Cranium Press." He later went on to found Desert Rose Press in San Jose, NM. "Here they are, blooming! Trail rock, talus and scree, all dusted with it: rust, ivory, brilliant yellow green and cliffs like murals!"..... More
