Sep 30, 2020
Issan Dorsey, Roshi,Β who famously transformed from a wild drug addicted traveling drag queen to a Zen Monk, which misadventures are hilariously & richly recounted in his biography βStreet Zenβ by David Schneider,Β Β here at the Hartford Street Zen Center & Maitri Aids Hospice where he was Abbott and which he founded in San Franciscoβs Castro neighborhood.Β Β He himself succumbed to Aids in 1990, andΒ Β his successor at the center was none other than poet Philip Whalen, who had recently become a Sensei. (snapped by Allen, 1988)
Street Zen, out of print for ages,Β Β was just reissued by Shambhala Publications last June.
(at Hartford Street Zen Center - Issan-Ji Temple, San Francisco)
