Stan Persky

Stan Persky (1941-) was born in Chicago, Illinois, later relocating and obtaining Canadian citizenship. As a teenager, Persky sent early writing to Jack Kerouac who responded with encouragement, welcoming him into the Beat scene, including pivotal literary figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. When Persky moved to British Columbia, he took some of the Beat generation’s literary concerns with him. He also later co-wrote a book about Robin Blaser with Brian Fawcett, Robin Blaser (2010), that draws on his own anecdotal experience of the time. In the 1960s, Persky co-founded a leftist publication called the Georgia Straight Writing Supplement that later became New Star Books. He worked both as a media commentator for the CBC, and as a professor of political science and philosophy at Capilano University. Persky is the author of twenty odd books that span research on the history of British Columbia, international politics, and made significant contributions to queer activism in Vancouver.