The Beat Generation was a group of American post-World War II writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired. Central elements of "Beat" culture included experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of exuberant, unexpurgated means of expression and being.

Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959) and Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957) are among the best known examples of Beat literature. Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States. The members of the Beat Generation developed a reputation as new bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.

The original "Beat Generation" writers met in New York. Later, in the mid-1950s, the central figures (with the exception of Burroughs) ended up together in San Francisco where they met and became friends with figures associated with the San Francisco Renaissance.

Jean-Louis "Jack" Kerouac ( /ˈkɛruːæk/ or /ˈkɛrɵæk/; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic spirituality, jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. His writings have inspired other writers, including Ken Kesey, Bob Dylan, Richard Brautigan, Curtis Meanor, Morrissey, Thomas Pynchon,Lester Bangs, Tom Robbins, Will Clarke, Ben Gibbard, Haruki Murakami, Jacquelyn Landgraf.^{[citation needed]} Kerouac became an underground celebrity and, with other beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. In 1969, at age 47, Kerouac died from internal bleeding due to long-standing abuse of alcohol. Since his death Kerouac's literary prestige has grown and several previously unseen works have been published. All of his books are in print today, among them: On the Road, Doctor Sax, The Dharma Bums, Mexico City Blues, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels, Visions of Cody and Big Sur.

Beniamino Placido (15 May 1929 – 6 January 2010) was an Italian journalist, writer and television critic.

Placido was a columnist on Italian culture for the newspaper La Repubblica and wrote three best selling books on television in the 1990s.

Placido died on 6 January 2010 at his home in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

Fernanda Pivano (18 July 1917 - 18 August 2009) was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and critic.

Born in Genoa, as a teenager she moved with her family to Turin where she attended the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum. In 1941 she received a bachelor's degree with a thesis on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, which earned her a prize from the Center for American Studies in Rome. In 1943 her first translation, part of the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, was published by Einaudi. In the same year she received a degree in philosophy.

In 1948, Pivano met Ernest Hemingway, resulting in an intense relationship of professional collaboration and friendship. In the following year Mondadori published her translation of A Farewell to Arms. She made her first trip to the United States in 1956. Throughout her professional life she has contributed to the diffusion of the most significant American writers in Italy, from the great icons of the Roaring Twenties, like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker and William Faulkner, through the writers of the 1960s (Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti), to young writers of recent decades including Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, David Foster Wallace, Chuck Palahniuk and Jonathan Safran Foer. Pivano was also interested in African-American culture: for example she published many Italian versions of Richard Wright's books. In 1980 and again in 1984 Pivano interviewed Charles Bukowski at his home in San Pedro, California. These interviews became the basis for her book, "Charles Bukowski, Laughing with the Gods" first published in the USA by Sun Dog Press in 2000.

Robert "Bob" McFadden (January 19, 1923 ‒ January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons.

His most popular television cartoon characters included Milton the Monster from the ABC series, The Milton The Monster Show; Cool McCool from the NBC series, Cool McCool; and Snarf from the syndicated series, ThunderCats.

McFadden was also the voice behind numerous radio and television commercial parts including Franken Berry in the animated commercials for the General Mills Franken Berry cereal as well as the pet parrot who cackled "ring around the collar" in the TV commercials for Wisk laundry detergent.

McFadden was born in East Liverpool, Ohio. While in the United States Navy during World War II, he began performing as a singer and impressionist. After the war, he went on to work at a steel mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and continued performing nights as an opening act for artists such as Harry Belafonte. McFadden eventually moved to New York where he obtained extensive voice-over work in both commercials and animation.