Ring of Bone: Collected Poems

"Lew Welch writes lyrical poems of clarity, humor, and dark probings . . . jazz musical phrasings of American speech is one of Welch's clearest contributions." — Gary Snyder

Lew Welch was a brilliant and troubled poet, legendary among his Beat peers. He disappeared in 1971, leaving a suicide note behind.

Ring of Bone collects poems, songs, and some drawings, documenting the full sweep of his creative output from his early years until his death. First published by legendary poetry editor Donald Allen, this new edition includes photos, a biographic timeline, and a statement of poetics gleaned from Welch's own writing.

For a number of years Welch showed his poetry only to close friends. With the emergence of the Beat movement, however, Welch's friends Philip Whalen and Gary Snyder began receiving national attention. Welch's desire to devote himself completely to his poetry was revived, and he soon became a part of the San Francisco poetry scene.

Donald Allen included one of Welch's poems in The New American Poetry - the important anthology published in 1960. That same year Welch's first book, Wobbly Rock, was published. He was drinking heavily during this time, but he continued to write extensively, and in 1965 published three books.

Despite his burgeoning success, Welch's bouts with depression and heavy drinking continued. On May 23, 1971, Gary Snyder went up to Welch's campsite in the Sierra Nevada mountains and found a suicide note in Welch's truck. Despite an extensive search, Welch's body was never recovered.

Donald Allen published much of Welch's work posthumously via Grey Fox Press, now an imprint of City Lights Books.

Gary Snyder is an American poet (often associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance), as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist (frequently described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology". Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. Snyder has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder served as a faculty member at the University of California, Davis, and he also served for a time on the California Arts Council.