Allen Ginsberg is perhaps the best known figure to emerge from the beat movement. Born in 1926 in Newark, N.J., Ginsberg was involved in numerous civil movements throughout his life, including the hippie and anti-Vietnam War movements and anti-nuclear protests. Ginsberg is also credited with the idea of Flower Power, a popular means of peaceful protest using flowers, bells, mantras, and smiles as sharp contrast to war. Ginsberg first gained notoriety in 1956 with the publication of Howl and Other Poems, full of graphic sexual scenes, particularly of homosexual sex acts in which the author engaged; Howl was declared obscene by the San Francisco Police Department. The publisher was arrested, and the trial that followed focused a great deal of media attention on Ginsberg, who continued to create provocative and controversial works. His writings were influenced by various events in his lifetime, including his mother's insanity, chronicled in the poem Kaddish, and his experimentation with drugs. Ginsberg received numerous honors, including a Woodbury Poetry Prize, a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, and a National Book Award for poetry. Ginsberg, ever the Bohemian, had numerous occupations throughout his lifetime including dishwasher, porter, book reviewer, and spot welder. Allen Ginsberg succumbed to cancer in April 1997.