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Photo courtesy of Brenda Knight and Conari Press
Copyright Ed Buryn 1978
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Lenore Kandel: Biography
Like many female figures
within the Beat community, Lenore Kandel is not recognized as an artist in
her own right so much as she is defined by her connections to male Beats,
such as her ex-boyfriend and fellow Buddhist, Gary Snyder, and one of her
greatest influences, Jack Kerouac. Kerouac immortalized Kandel as the
character Romona Swartz in his novel Big Sur. Indeed, Kandel was
closer to many of the men in the Beat community than she was to the
women. However, she developed a deep bond with Diane Di Prima, eventually
joining the political group, the Diggers, with her.
Kandel was born in New York City in
1932. She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania
but moved with her family to Los
Angeles, where "she spent her teenage years as
'a juvenile delinquent'". She studied journalism and English at Los Angeles City
College, then psychology at the New School
for Social Research in New York.
However, she never graduated from either school. She returned to California and began working at a coffee house in San Francisco in 1960,
where she began reading her poetry. She also began publishing her
poetry through Three Penny Press at this time.
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Kandel met Lew Welch in San
Francisco, and soon developed a friendship with
him. Through Welch, Kandel met Kerouac, Snyder, and various Black Mountain writers. Through these
acquaintances, she became a member on the fringe of the Beat community.
Like Anne Waldman, Kandel was
more instrumental in the Haight-Ashbury
movement than the original Beat movement. She spoke at the Human Be-in
at Golden Gate Park
on January 14, 1967 and was involved in many similar events, such as Tribal
Stomp in Berkley
(picture above).
In 1966, Kandel published The Love Book, �a celebration
of sexuality and the divine� (Waldman 274), which was banned for
obscenity. Kandel claims The Love Book was not obscene but
rather an expression of �her belief that sexual acts between loving persons
are religious acts� (Knight 281).
Lenore Kandel currently resides in or around San Francisco.
Unfortunately, she is disabled as the result of a motorcycle accident she and
her husband, Hell�s Angel Bill Fritsch were involved in during
1970. She still writes frequently.
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