Jack Spicer

Jack Spicer (1925–1965) was a poet and linguist born in Los Angeles, California. At the University of California, Berkeley, he became close friends with the poets Robin Blaser and Robert Duncan, and with them he went on to play a central role in the San Francisco Renaissance of the late 1940s and the 1950s. During his life, Spicer published six short books of poetry, all with small, local presses. He died of alcohol poisoning in the poverty ward of San Francisco General Hospital. Posthumous editions of his work include My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, The House That Jack Built: The Collected Lectures of Jack Spicer, and Be Brave to Things: The Uncollected Poetry and Plays of Jack Spicer.

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