Peter Dean Martin (1923 – March 3, 1988) was a college professor and bookstore owner, known for his founding of the

City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected tit ...

. He was the son of

Carlo Tresca Carlo Tresca (March 9, 1879 – January 11, 1943) was an Italian-American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the 1910s. He is remembered as a leading public opponent of fas ...

and Sabina 'Bina' Flynn, and the nephew of

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union ...

Background

Martin was teaching sociology at

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

when in 1953 he founded the short lived City Lights Publishing company. To support the publishing company he started the City Lights Pocket Book Shop with

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, an ...

. After two years, he sold his interest in the bookstore and returned to his native New York, where he founded the New Yorker Bookstore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Peter D. 1923 births 1988 deaths American booksellers San Francisco State University faculty