New York Weighs In

King Lord Queen Freak

King Lord Queen Freak

Ed Sanders Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature.

The work of Ed Sanders also bridged the Beat movement and the hippie era that followed. He moved to New York from his hometown of Kansas City in the late 1950's, and became enthralled by the burgeoning Beat scene. In 1961 he started an underground press which challenged the limits of censorship with its unprintable name and the publication of otherwise unpublishable poems by such artists as Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kerouac, Corso, and Creeley. In 1964, he opened the Peace Eye Bookstore on the Lower East Side, a shop that was often raided, resulting in Sanders' frequent arrest. He also cofounded the satirical folk/rock group, The Fugs, a group that made every attempt to be offensive. Sanders published several novels, numerous books of poetry, songbooks, broadsides and record albums. He is still actively involved in social issues in New York.

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