Lewis Barrett Welch, Jr. was an American poet associated with the Beat generation literary movement.
Background
Lewis Welch Jr was born on August 16, 1926 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, in the family of Lewis Barrett and Dorothy (Brownfield) Welch. His mother hailed from one of the city’s wealthiest families. Consequently, she was accustomed to the social and economic benefits of upper-class life. Welch’s father, however, was a man utterly lacking in financial means. Though Welch conceded that his parents’ relationship, at least initially, was a loving one, he would also allow that it soon degenerated, especially after Welch was born. He moved with his mother and sister to California in 1929.
Education
Lewis attended Stockton Junior College in 1946, Reed College in 1948-1950, University of Chicago in 1951-1955, and San Francisco State University in 1957.
Career
Welch decided to become a writer after reading Gertrude Stein's long story "Melanctha." Welch wrote his thesis on Stein and published poems in student magazines.
After college, Welch moved to New York City, where he worked writing copy in the advertising industry. Welch was said to have come up with the advertising slogan,"Raid Kills Bugs Dead", but others have questioned this claim. In Chicago, he joined the advertising department of Montgomery Ward. He was working there at the time of the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco that launched what was to become known as the San Francisco Renaissance.
Wanting to get back to poetry, Welch applied for a transfer to Montgomery Ward's Oakland headquarters. After the return to California, he started to get involved in the San Francisco literary scene. He soon gave up advertising and earned a living driving a cab while devoting more time to writing.
Welch published and performed widely during the 1960s. He taught a poetry workshop as part of the University of California Extension in San Francisco from 1965 to 1970.
Achievements
Lewis is famous for his poetry books "Wobbly Rock", "On Out", "Hermit Poems", and "Courses: No Credit, No Blame."
Welch had a common-law relationship with Polish refugee Maria Magda Cregg. He acted as the stepfather to her son Hugh Anthony Cregg, III, better known as Huey Lewis.
