Poet Kenneth Rexroth, when asked "Why do you write?" loves to tell people, "To overthrow the capitalist system & to get laid — in that order."

Kenneth Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement.^[1]Although he did not consider himself to be a Beat poet, and disliked the association, he was dubbed the "Father of the Beats" by Time.^[2] He was among the first poets in the United States to explore traditional Japanese poetic forms such as haiku.^[3]