Sky*Boat

Ronnie Burk, born in Sinton, Texas, April 1, 1955, was a visionary poet, a remarkable collagist, and a dedicated political activist. In his youth he studied Buddhism and literature at the Naropa Institute in Colorado. Mango Publications brought out his first book, En el jardin de los nopales, in 1979. He was active in the early Chicano movement of the 1970s and became a leading force in the controversial San Francisco branch of ACT UP, fighting for the rights of people diagnosed with HIV. Throughout his life Burk traveled widely and sought out like-minded friends and mentors, including Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Charles Henri Ford, and Philip Lamantia. He lived in the Southwest, Hawaii, and the two cities he was based in and loved most, San Francisco and New York. Ronnie Burk died in 2003 at the age of forty-seven. This is the first published volume of his writing.