Poetic Obituaries: [George] Whitman's store, founded in 1951,

has also been a favorite stopover for established authors and poets to read from their work and sign their books. Its visitors list reads like a Who's Who of American, English, French and Latin American literature: Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Samuel Beckett and James Baldwin were frequent callers in the early days; other regulars included Lawrence Durrell and the Beat writers William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, all of them Mr. Whitman's friends.

Another was the Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The two met in Paris in the late 1940s and discussed the importance of free-thinking bookstores.

from The New York Times: George Whitman, Paris Bookseller and Cultural Beacon, Is Dead at 98
then Reuters: American dean of Paris literary scene dies at 98

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