More Beat nostalgia

Pop quiz: Who ushered in San Francisco's "new society rooted in spontaneity, experimentation and social revolution?

Answer: It was Ginsberg and the Beats—with "Howl" at the helm—who navigated a generation toward flower power, revolution, and all things psychedelic, declares Ken Garcia in the San Francisco Examiner.

Here's how the Beats transformed an era - and a nation:

If San Francisco had been a place known for its acceptance and diversity, the incubator that was “Howl” soon turned it into a cultural cauldron. If there was an “anti” involved, it soon had a place in San Francisco — anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-government. Drugs had always had a place in the Beat culture but that formula for change soon mushroomed — literally and figuratively — and became an eclectic, energized scene unto itself . . .