Taylor Mead (b. 1924) is a poet, performer, actor, and painter who became a forceful presence in the Beat movements, first in San Francisco and then New York. Mead's Diaries of a New York Youth (1983) represented and helped shape popular "counter culture." Only excerpts of this work have been published. A 1999 press release issued by the Gotham Book Mart & Gallery Inc. for an exhibit titled The Anonymous Diary of a New York Youth Print Portfolio, notes: "The 'Beat' period in Venice, California was the setting in which Taylor wrote these poems; a scant remainder of a larger body of work which was stolen during a reading some years ago. Taylor considers this an extremely important period in his writing."
Mead made his first film, The Flower Thief (1960), with San Francisco underground filmmaker Ron Rice. Mead went on to become an acclaimed actor in Andy Warhol films, including Tarzan and Jane (1963), Lonesome Cowboys (1969), and Taylor Mead's Ass (1964); the Jim Jarmusch film Coffee and Cigarettes (2003); and the William Kirkley documentary Excavating Taylor Mead (2005). Mead has been a frequent contributor to and subject of underground and mainstream publications on poetry, politics, and culture throughout his career. Mead continues to publish poetry and performs regularly at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.
From the guide to the Reginald Gay collection of Taylor Mead and related materials, 1941-1991, 1960-1990, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)
