Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and Beat icon, was an American treasure

Ferlinghetti stands outside his bookstore in San Francisco in 1998. Photo: Reuters

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet and bookstore owner whose publication of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl in 1956 led to a landmark obscenity trial that spotlighted the Beat literary movement, has died. He was 101.

He died on Feb 22 at his home in San Francisco, according to the Washington Post, citing his son Lorenzo. The cause was lung disease.