The famous bookstore “City Lights” in San Francisco, closed due to coronavirus, may never open.
“City Lights” is a symbol of the beat movement. The place is closed on quarantine since March 16, when the Governor of California Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of all non-critical enterprises in the state, to stop the spread of COVID-19. But the store ceased to serve customers, even online, and don’t seem to resume again.
CEO Elaine Katzenberger launched a campaign to raise funds to save the legendary store. According to her, the money will go on payment of the full зарплаты20 employees.
The store was founded in 1953 by two friends, a College Professor Peter D. Martin and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It became the meeting place of Bohemians in San Francisco. It was the country’s first bookstore that sold only soft cover books, many of which were focused on progressive modern literature.
In 1956, “City Lights” has published an original poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg (Allen Ginsberg) whose work defined the Zeitgeist of what would later be called the generation of beatniks.
