Beat poet, playwright, novelist, and documentary filmmaker Michael McClure was born in Marysville, Kansas, and raised there and in Seattle. McClure’s poetry combines spontaneity, typographical experimentation, Buddhist practice, and “body language” to merge the ecstatic and the corporeal. In addition to poetry, he has written more than 20 plays and musicals, several television documentaries, and the song “Mercedes Benz,” which was made famous by singer Janis Joplin.