Beat poet Harold Norse dead at 92

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 (UPI) -- Renowned New York-born poet Harold Norse has died in San Francisco, where he resided for decades, said his friend Todd Swindell. Norse was 92.

The Brooklyn College graduate was a ground-breaking Beat poet and contemporary of iconic scribes Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Charles Bukowski.

"Harold was one of the pre-eminent rebel poets of our time," San Francisco poet Neeli Cherkovski told The New York Times. "He was someone who smashed conventions, like Ginsberg, and broke through to what he called a new rhythm, writing the way he talked, using the voices of the street. He also gave voice to homosexuality early on."

The Times said Norse died Monday. The cause of his death was not reported.