Snyder read his poetry at the legendary Six Gallery reading in San Francisco in 1955 and was associated with Beat Generation writers, including Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure, and Lew Welch. A Zen Buddhist who has been described as the Henry David Thoreau of the Beat Movement, Snyder’s papers reflect his love of the wilderness, which can be traced back to his childhood in the Pacific Northwest and subsequently, through his travels in Japan, China, and India. Snyder was immortalized as the mystical poet in the book, Dharma Bums, by the Beat writer Jack Kerouac, who was inspired by a mountain climbing outing Snyder led with some of the Beat writers in the Sierra Nevada mountains.