Leadbelly (film) title card stating that Leadbelly was released from prison and pursued his music career. Leadbelly (film) Leadbelly is a 1976 film chronicling the life of folk singer Huddie William Ledbetter (better known as "Lead Belly"). The film was directed by Gordon Parks, and starred Roger E. Mosley in the title role. The film focuses on the troubles of Lead Belly's youth in the segregated South including his time in prison, and his efforts to use his music to gain release. Huddie Ledbetter leaves his father's house just barely into his twenties and arrives at a brothel on Fannin' Street ran
When I Was Cool the same year. When I Was Cool When I Was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School is Sam Kashner's autobiographical account of his experience as the first student at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, which was founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman in honor of their late friend, Jack Kerouac. As he describes in his book, Kashner was a disgruntled Long Island teenager in the 1970s who was obsessed with the poetry and prose of the Beat generation of the 1950s. Kashner's book provides a glimpse into the lives and creative processes of his teachers