Joe Brainard (1942-1994) was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and moved to New York City in 1960. He was a prolific writer and artist across media, including paintings, collages, assemblages, and comic-strip collaborations with poets. His I Remember has been translated into fifteen languages, and his artworks are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and many others. He died from AIDS-related pneumonia.

Daniel Kane is a professor of American literature at Uppsala University. His books include All Poets Welcome: The Lower East Side Poetry Scene in the 1960s (2003); We Saw the Light: Conversations Between the New American Cinema and Poetry (2009); and "Do You Have a Band?": Poetry and Punk Rock in New York City (Columbia, 2017).