New web friend, Charley Plymell -- expanded section on Beats In Kansas -- yup, actually by number and work, Kansas produced a majority of what we now call the Beat Generation. I know, hard to believe, but true. Was it the wind, the dust, the vast flat land, the star filled night skys?
Source: http://www.vlib.us/beats#plymell
Charles Plymell in Moody's Skidrow Beanery shirt, Cherry Valley, NY, 2002. Holcomb, Kansas native. Photograph by Pat O'Connor, copyright 2002. Used with permission