I had an opportunity to hear Gary Snyder reading from his new volume of poetry, "Danger on Peaks" last week here in Seattle.

Early on Gary was, perhaps wrongly, lumped in with the Beat poets: Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs. He shares a time frame and perhaps some esthetics of freedom, spontaneity, and spirituality with them but that's where the comparison ends.

Gary is an academic; far more rigorous and disciplined in his approach to poetry (and to life) than his Beat contemporaries. He was a graduate of Reed college in Portland, specializing in indigenous American culture, and an early acolyte of Japanese zen. He traveled to Japan in the mid-fifties to spend ten years studying zen buddhism- long before it became a mainstream American practice. He learned Japanese and Chinese. He was an early champion of the environment, urging us to carry ourselves respectfully in the natural world and reminding us that our fate is inextricably bound to the wilderness.

I've seen Gary Snyder a couple of times and have met him once. I've corresponded with him via email a few times. I only mention all this because seeing him read again was like a dose of sanity for me. He is as sane and decent and as grounded a man as I have ever met; far removed from the so-called "leaders" and "visionaries" we live with today.

In Snyder's own words: "I try to hold both history and wildness in my mind, that my poems may approach the true measure of things and stand against the unbalance and ignorance of our time".

If you're not familiar with Gary Snyder's work I recommend his new book of poems "Danger on Peaks". Another really great read is his collection of essays "Practice of the Wild". If you know of his work, get reaquainted: an old friend is waiting for you.

Here's an article from the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002103958_snyder30.html