Allen Ginsberg Credit: Michiel Hendryckx, CC BY-SA 3.0
In November 2020, Gina and Ken Burchenal—the latter being a retired University of Texas literature professor—purchased Jack Kerouac’s Disston Heights house where the now-dead beat icon spent the final two years of his life.

This weekend, the address hosts a 97th birthday party for Kerouac’s also-dead beat friend and early LGBTQ+ advocate Allen Ginsberg, whose poem “Howl” was banned because of references to sex and drugs. The poem’s publisher was arrested, and evidently won an obscenity trial, which later turned into a James Franco movie.

The Saturday night soiree promises live music, poetry, and footage of the late birthday boy.

Tickets to Allen Ginsberg’s Birthday Party at St. Petersburg’s Jack Kerouac House on Saturday, June 3 available for a $20 minimum donation.

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This article appears in May 25-31, 2023.

Josh Bradley is Creative Loafing Tampa's resident live music freak. He started freelancing with the paper in 2020 at the age of 18, and has since covered, announced, and previewed numerous live shows in...