Michael McClure (1932-2020) was an award-winning American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. His works include MULE KICK BLUES (City Lights Publishers, 2021), MEPHISTOS AND OTHER POEMS (City Lights Publishers, 2016), GHOST TANTRAS (City Lights Publishers, 2013), and PLUM STONES/CARTOONS OF NO HEAVEN (O Books, 2002). After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he was one of the five poets who participated in the Six Gallery reading that featured the public debut of Allen Ginsberg's landmark poem "Howl." A key figure of the Beat Generation, McClure is immortalized as Pat McLear in Jack Kerouac's novels The Dharma Bums and Big Sur. He also participated in the 60s counterculture alongside musicians like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. He taught for many years at California College of the Arts and lived with his wife, Amy, in the San Francisco Bay Area.