Peter Orlovsky in San Francisco, 1955Peter Orlovsky was the son of Russian immigrants, born on the Lower East Side, and a high school drop out. He was Allen Ginsburg's long time lover and supposedly the inspiration for "Howl." He was also a close friend of Jack Kerouac.
Orlovsky and Ginsburg were not exactly the perfect model couple. They each had numerous affairs on the side. Orlovsky had a number of affairs with women. Nevertheless, they stayed together until Ginsburg's death in 1997.
ReplyDeleteI can remember meeting a number of young men (and not so young men) in my early East Village days who boasted that they had slept with Allen Ginsburg. Perhaps, but it seems Allen loved only one.