WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS | ALLEN GINSBERG

Preface
Allan H. Kurtzman

Eleven years ago, when I offered my collection of Beat material to the UCLA University Library, I received several polite notes of thanks. I also seemed to perceive some embarrassment at the thought of including such a collection in a "serious" library. Yet today, influential observers everywhere recognize the unique contributions of the Beat Generation to late 20th Century culture and particularly the creative spontaneity of Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs in helping to define those contributions.

I am always asked how I came to assemble the collection, and often ask myself the same question. Frankly, it just grew---and grew because I kept reading the wonderful material that seemed to pour effortlessly from these authors. I particularly enjoyed reading Ginsberg, Burroughs, McClure, Ferlinghetti, Corso and Ed Sanders. Naturally, that is where the bulk of the collection lies. Beyond my own enjoyment reading and simply holding this material, I am especially pleased that the UCLA University Research Library has taken such good care of this fragile collection and has worked to make it truly available to students and scholars.

The "Here To Go" exhibition underscores the Beat movement at its best -- its message of freedom, creativity, and non-violence, and of poetry truly having something to say to all people. I am glad I was there to go!

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