16 Facts About Lew Welch

Lew Welch taught a poetry workshop as part of the University of California Extension in San Francisco, from 1965 to 1970.

Lew Welch is believed to have committed suicide, after leaving a note on May 23, 1971.

Lew Welch was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved with his mother and sister to California in 1929.

Lew Welch enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1944 but never saw active service.

Lew Welch worked for a period before attending Stockton Junior College, where he developed an interest in the works of Gertrude Stein.

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Lew Welch decided to become a writer after reading Gertrude Stein's long story "Melanctha.

Lew Welch admired Welch's early poems and tried to get his Stein thesis published.

Lew Welch was said to have come up with the advertising slogan, "Raid Kills Bugs Dead, " but some have questioned this claim.

Lew Welch then went to the University of Chicago, where he studied philosophy and English.

Lew Welch soon gave up advertising and earned a living driving a cab while devoting more time to writing.

Lew Welch became an active participant in Beat culture, living at various times with Snyder and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

In 1968, Lew Welch signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.

Lew Welch had a common-law relationship with Polish refugee Maria Magdalena Cregg.

Lew Welch acted as the stepfather to her son Hugh Anthony Cregg III, better known by his stage-name Huey Lewis.

On May 23, 1971, Lew Welch walked out of poet Gary Snyder's house in the mountains of California, leaving behind a suicide note.

Note: Before committing suicide in 1971, Lew Welch left a note naming Donald Allen his literary executor.