Ina Coolbrith

Ina Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith) (March 10, 1841-1928) was a poet and writer, and a prominent and beloved figure in the San Francisco literary community.

She was a friend of Samuel Clemens, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Joaquin Miller, and contributed articles to the influential magazine, the Overland Monthly.

In 1873 she became librarian at the Oakland Free Library, and, in 1895, befriended and mentored the young Jack London. Jack London called her his "literary mother."

In 1915 she was named Poet Laureate of California. Her name is commemorated by Ina Coolbrith Park at Taylor and Vellego in San Francisco, and Mount Ina Coolbrith, a 7,900 foot peak near Beckworth Pass in the Sierra Nevada near U.S. Highway 70.

External links

Poems by Ina Coolbrith:

• Beside the Dead http://www.sonnets.org/coolbrith.htm
• The California Poppy http://www.sonic.net/~ghaslam/callit/inacool.htm
• Fruitionless http://www.bartleby.com/248/967.html
• Helen Hunt Jackson http://www.bartleby.com/248/966.html
• Meadow Larks http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/c/coolbrith/beach78.1.html
• Millennium http://humanities.byu.edu/mldb/coolbrth.htm
• When the Grass Shall Cover Me http://www.bartleby.com/248/965.html

Short biographies at:

• http://www.cateweb.org/CA_Authors/Coolbrith.html Short biography, and photo of a youthful Ina Coolbrith

• http://www.calwriters.org/authors/coolbrith.htm Short biography, and photo of a youthful Ina Coolbrith (same photo as at cateweb)

• http://www.geocities.com/jacklondons/inacoolbrith.html Short biography, and picture of a middle-aged Ina Coolbrith