Ku dhammee weedhan soo socota: Wuxuu ku dhashay Portland, Oregon, Whalen wuxuu ku koray Dalles laga soo bilaabo da'da afar ilaa uu ku soo laabtay Portland 1941. Wuxuu ka tirsanaa ciidamada cirka ee Mareykanka intii lagu jiray Dagaalkii Labaad ee Adduunka. wuxuu dhigan jiray Reed College isagoo qaadanaya lacagta GI Bill. Halkaas, wuxuu kula kulmay Gary Snyder iyo Lew Welch, wuxuuna ka qalin jabiyay BA 1951. Wuxuu wax ka akhriyey buuga caanka ah ee
Lix Gallery oo la aqriyay 1955 taas oo calaamadeysay soo bandhigida West Coast Beats ee indhaha dadweynaha. Wuxuu u muuqdaa, qaab aan caadi aheyn, sida dabeecada "Warren Coughlin" ee Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums", oo ay kujirto xisaabinta akhrintaas. Big Sur waxaa loogu yeeraa Ben Fagan. Gabayada Whalen waxaa lagu soo bandhigay Donald Allen's anthology "The New American Poetry 1945-1960".