Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the San Francisco poet, publisher, painter and founder of City Lights bookstore, is now a commander. A commandeur, actually.

The French government has given Ferlinghetti the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, citing his poems such as ``A Coney Island of the Mind'' (1958) and his role in publishing Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg in the 1950s and '60s. The French consul general, Frederic Desagneaux, presented him with a medal and a Gallic hug during a reception Friday evening at the French consulate in San Francisco.

Ferlinghetti, wearing a French-blue shirt, skinny black tie and corduroy jeans, was toasted by a crowd that ranged from white-bearded beatnik types to executives in business suits. After receiving his medal, the 87-year-old poet spoke briefly to the crowd in French and then was trailed around the consulate's living room by a film crew and a pack of reporters. One asked whether his new title gave him any troops to command.

``Yes, including George Whitman, my old friend at Shakespeare & Co.,'' Ferlinghetti replied, referring to the owner of the literary bookstore on the Left Bank of the Seine. ``He's only a chevalier. I can order him around!''

Ferlinghetti, who served in the Navy in World War II, lived in Paris after the war, studying literature at the Sorbonne and earning a Ph.D. in 1950. He moved to San Francisco in 1953 and, with Peter Martin, co-founded City Lights as the first all- paperback bookstore in the country. It also became an important gathering place for San Francisco writers, artists and bohemians. He started the City Lights publishing house in 1955.

Obscenity Trial

As a publisher, Ferlinghetti is most famous for releasing Ginsberg's ``Howl,'' an anthem of the Beat Generation. The 1956 poem, which begins with the line ``I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,'' became the subject of an obscenity trial in which Ferlinghetti was eventually acquitted.

Five decades later, Ferlinghetti is still writing, editing and painting, though he's stepped back a bit from his bookstore responsibilities.

``Everyone else is doing all the work at City Lights nowadays,'' he said. ``I'm still hanging around, editing a few books. I'm working on the second volume of the writings of Pier Paolo Pasolini, who is mainly known in this country as a filmmaker but in Italy is considered one of the most important writers in Italy since the Second World War.''

(Stephen West is an editor for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen West in San Francisco at smwest@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 11, 2006 17:09 EST