Michael McClure is an award-winning American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. A key figure of the Beat Generation, McClure is immortalized as Pat McClear in Jack Kerouac's novels The Dharma Bums and Big Sur. He also participated in the '60s counterculture alongside musicians like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. McClure remains active as a poet, essayist, and playwright, and lives with his wife, Amy, in the San Francisco Bay area.
