Tuhia he tomokanga mo tenei pene - I whanau mai i Portland, Oregon, i tipu ake a Whalen i The Dalles mai i te wha o ona tau tae noa ki tana hokinga ki Portland i te 1941. I mahi ia i te US Army Air Forces i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao. I haere ia ki te Reed College i runga i te pire GI. I reira, i tutaki ia ki a Gary Snyder me Lew Welch, a ka puta ia me te BA i te 1951. I pānui ia i te pānui rongonui o te Whare Pukapuka Ono
i te tau 1955 i tohu i te whakarewatanga o te West Coast Beats ki te kanohi o te iwi whānui. Ka puta mai ia, i roto i te ahua pakiwaitara, hei tohu "Warren Coughlin" i roto i a Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums", kei roto hoki tetahi korero mo taua panui. I "Big Sur" e kiia ana ia ko "Ben Fagan". Ko nga waiata a Whalen i whakaatuhia i roto i te pukapuka a Donald Allen "The New American Poetry 1945-1960".